The X-Men's Guide to Dealing with Bullies
by robbiepoo2341
Summary: The second generation of X-Men is starting to grow up, and with that transition comes a whole lot of drama. Bullies, crushes, and more abound... all while the first X-Men try to figure out how to navigate parenting pre-teens.
1. Friendly Neighborhood Wedding

**Hello and welcome to a brand new volume of our 714 universe! If you haven't caught up, check out my profile (or Canucklehead Cowgirl's) for the reading order, because we do even numbered volumes here and odd numbered volumes on her profile. If you are all caught up... away we go!**

**Chapter 1: "Friendly Neighborhood Wedding"**

It was hardly even an exaggeration to say that every hero on that side of the world — plus a great deal of SHIELD agents — came to the wedding when Peter Parker and Sara Bailey got married.

After all, there was hardly a hero around who didn't know the "friendly neighborhood Spiderman" and get along with him. Everyone from Johnny Storm to Captain America to Matt Murdock and anyone in between showed up — and the ones that couldn't make it sent their love and not a small amount of gifts, either.

Everyone was involved in making the day as perfect as possible, too. Storm made sure there wasn't a cloud in the sky but that there was enough of a breeze that the August heat wouldn't get to anybody, especially with the guys in suits for the outdoor ceremony. Leslie Ann had worked for a month on getting the flowers and the field exactly the way she thought it should look, like something out of a movie. And to May's horror, Tony had paid for and arranged for all the food, which meant there was far more than even the huge gathering of heroes could put away.

And then there were, of course, the heroes that were actually involved in the wedding itself. It was a given at this point that Nightcrawler was officiating, but with Logan, Johnny Storm, and Deadpool on Peter's side for groomsmen, it was an entertaining counterpoint to the sweet pencil-pushers from the SHIELD HR department that were on Sara's side.

Not to mention the notable front row seats on Peter's side of the aisle, with May sitting right at the end in the front so she could see the whole thing as Erik handed her a handkerchief before the ceremony even started. Which… was also raising a few eyebrows, since a few of the heroes gathered knew him as Magneto and not "Grampa Erik," even if Billy and Teddy's kids seated the row behind him kept calling him that to get his attention.

Once all the guests had arrived and everyone was seated, though, it was clearly time for the stars of the show: the ring bearer and the flower girl. Sadie looked adorable in her little red dress with ribbons in her hair, and she looked every inch like she knew how cute she was, too. And Bashir with his red-lined suit was eating up all the attention with a crooked grin that no one was sure matched his mom or his dad better.

The best part, though, was when Kamala caught the _exact _moment that Sadie leaned over and gave Bashir a kiss on the cheek and startled him almost right out of his shoes. She got the whole thing on film, and she couldn't help but giggle to Miles, "That's all you."

"No kidding," he agreed, shaking his head at the two cute kids at the front of the aisle.

As soon as the flower petals were strewn across the ground, and Bashir was blushing the right shade, Sadie blew a kiss to Peter and rushed over to stand next to her dad, giggling and smiling the whole time.

"Best flower girl ever," Peter whispered to her, because he couldn't help it, and bent down to high five her.

But then, of course, when Sara arrived with her father for the ceremony, Peter wasn't paying attention to even the cutest flower girl ever. Instead, he was grinning and, notably, totally speechless as he watched her walk down the aisle.

Kurt was clearly trying not to laugh as he looked between the two of them, since Sara, by the time she got to where Peter was, seemed to have been hit with the same affliction of speechlessness.

After that, though, Peter honestly didn't hear a word of what was said. He tried? But it just… wasn't happening somehow. Everything went a little fuzzy and floaty for a bit there.

Logan and Kurt shared a knowing look when Peter totally missed his cue, and Kurt waited a moment longer before Logan elbowed Peter and cleared his throat to try to bring him back to reality.

Peter looked a bit wide-eyed for a second before he cleared his own throat too. "I do?"

The guys all started to smirk as Kurt tactfully redirected him into the vows, going slow and sure to speak very clearly. Peter tried to focus a little better too, nodding along to every word as he tried to get his ears caught up to reality, though he kept getting distracted because Sara was grinning and even laughing a little. She clearly thought the whole thing was adorable.

And thankfully, Peter did manage to work through the vows before Sara took her turn without a word skipped before they shared a kiss, and the entire gathered group burst into applause.

Peter couldn't stop the grin, either, as he turned with Sara's hand in his and everyone in attendance, especially Aunt May, cheered on the happy couple as they made their way back down the aisle to celebrate.

May was first to them, of course, with the biggest smile anyone had ever seen on her face as she wrapped both Peter and Sara up in a hug. "I'm so proud of you," she told Peter with tears shining in her eyes.

"Aunt May…" Peter said, then shook his head.

"You're going to make him cry," Sara whispered with a smile, though her own eyes were shining.

May smiled at both of them and hugged them once more, though as soon as she stepped back — and before Peter could compose himself — Wade tackled them both from behind with a huge grin and a delighted laugh, belting out the words to "At Last" as loud as he could as he hugged them tight.

"I warned you," Peter told Sara apologetically.

"You did," she agreed, though she couldn't stop smiling even with Deadpool singing loudly in both of their ears.

The singing suddenly stopped with a poof of blue smoke as Kurt's bamfs took a hold of Deadpool and teleported him across the grounds to give the newlyweds a little bit of breathing room.

Sara laughed. "Those little blue things are so helpful."

"You… have only seen them _sometimes_," Peter said, deciding that he wasn't going to get into it when it was their wedding day and they were having such a good time.

"And when they're acting on orders," Logan said with a little smirk. "Congrats. 'Bout damn time."

Peter grinned at Logan and shook his head. "Had to wait for the perfect flower girl to get big enough to steal the show, obviously."

"I think her sister would've led her down sooner," Logan told him. "Then it would've been two for one." He tipped his chin toward the open area that led to the ballroom. "Go dance with your wife, Petey. Try not to step on her toes."

Sara smiled as she took Peter's arm. "He hasn't yet."

Logan watched the two of them lead out as the music started up before he turned his attention elsewhere, to where Kurt was standing in front of Wade with his arms crossed. "Yes, Wade. We're all excited. Let them have their moment," Kurt was saying.

"Wade," Logan said, cutting him off before he could get going and argue with Kurt. "Don't you have a wife to dance with yourself? Or do you want Lisbet to think she's not enough to keep your short little span of attention occupied?"

Wade straightened up suddenly and turned Logan's way, all his protests dying in a breath. "You know… the stabby one makes a good point," he said, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"Always so surprised," Logan said, shaking his head. "Go get her before she loses all of that smile she's been tryin' to keep alive."

"Yessir, sheriff, sir," Wade said in a horrible Western accent before he bounded off to go find Lisbet to sweep her off her feet into a dance.

"Why is it so hard with him some days and so freakin' easy on others?" Logan said to Kurt.

Kurt shook his head. "Logan, you are aware he is _insane_."

"Yeah, but he's not crazy," Logan countered.

Kurt shrugged openly. "Yes, but it does explain why some things are easier."

Logan turned toward Kurt and put his arm around his shoulders. "If you say I'm the only one that gets him, I'm going to hit you. Fair warning."

"No," Kurt laughed. "No, I think sometimes Peter understands him. And the Hawkeyes seem to both have… an understanding of sorts with him."

"So you married into crazy is what you're saying," Logan replied as they walked toward the gathering crowd in the ballroom.

"And here you were just saying that he is not crazy," Kurt chuckled.

"He's not," Logan replied with a smile. "Doesn't mean the people hanging out with him aren't."

"Logan," Kurt said with a single raised eyebrow and a teasing smirk, "if you continue to insinuate things about my wife in front of me, I won't stand for it."

"I'm insinuating about your wife and her idiot best friend," Logan pointed out. "Bring it."

Kurt grinned before he put a hand on Logan's shoulder, and the two of them teleported off, reappearing in the middle of Sara's bridesmaids. "Come now, Logan; the bridesmaids and groomsmen should mingle a bit, don't you think?" he teased before teleporting away himself.

As the guests began to pair off around Peter and Sara, there was a bit of a wide path being cut as Erik and May took to the floor as well. It's not that they were overly elaborate, it was just … most of the SHIELD people in attendance weren't exactly sure what to do with Magneto … doing normal things and picking on several of the X-Men as he did so.

"Really, Scott, you can't possibly be turning down the attentions of your lovely wife when Storm has provided the perfect weather," Erik said as he and May passed the table where Scott and Annie were sitting and chatting.

Annie laughed at the look on Scott's face as he covered his eyes with one hand. "I'll take care of it," she promised Erik, who chuckled at that.

May shook her head at him. "You're in a good mood," she laughed.

Erik smiled at her. "Because you are," he told her as he led her a little further off the dance floor toward where Kate had just gotten Kade to drift off a bit. "Why don't you let us take him off your hands?" he offered. "I believe your husband needs the attention — or he will continue to strand Wolverine in packs of young, impressionable SHIELD agents."

Kate burst out laughing as she very gently handed Kade to May. "Oh, I _guess _I could try to stop him, but he's enjoying himself so much."

"He would enjoy himself with you as well," Erik pointed out, still smiling as he helped May to a seat with Kade, and Kate laughed again as she shook her head and skipped off to go snag Kurt around the waist and pull him into a kiss in the middle of the dance floor that turned into a teleport into the corner so the kiss could go on a little longer without disrupting the dance floor.

And with Kurt taken care of, all that was left was for Erik to spot Logan with three young SHIELD agents totally enamored with him, even if it was obvious that he was trying to get away from them tactfully. Erik held out one hand with a little smirk before, all of a sudden, Logan lifted up into the air with a few muted swears before he found himself floating over to drop down in front of K — who was, not accidentally, close to where Erik had sat down with May.

"You seem to have misplaced something, my dear," he told K with a smile.

"And you were so kind to find him for me," K replied with a fond smile as Logan shook his head and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks for that. I didn't have a heart attack yet this week," Logan growled out before he took the seat next to K.

"You're very welcome," Erik said, still with a smirk.

May was laughing and shaking her head. "Do you do this all the time and I've just been missing it when I come to visit?"

"Oh, only from time to time," Erik laughed, leaning back slightly as May readjusted the sleeping little elfling she was holding.

"When he's _bored_," Logan said, picking up a glass of wine.

"Or when they need the push," Erik added, tipping his head toward where Annie and Scott were now dancing together.

"We're pretty push-free," K said, leaning into Logan.

Erik smirked at her. "This time, what you needed was a pull."

"You're flamin' hilarious," Logan grumbled.

Erik's smirk only widened at that as he turned his attention fully back to May and Kade now that the others were more or less taken care of.

And in the meantime, Peter and Sara were nearly finished dancing — though before they could do the bouquet toss, Peter and Sara both made their way over to insist that May needed to dance with Peter. Sara had arranged a song to play for her father/daughter dance with her dad, and Peter needed the same with May.

Erik gently scooped the tiniest Wagner out of May's arms and urged her forward as Peter took May's hand and led her out onto the dance floor, which cleared except for the two couples — Peter with May and Sara with her father.

Neither of the Parkers could entirely control their emotions, either, and by the time May stepped back to let Peter take Sara into one more dance, he was rubbing at both eyes with the back of one hand and muttering something inaudible under his breath that she laughed at before she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you too, Peter."

When May settled in at the table again, it wasn't too long before Sadie found her way over and started out by giving her dad a kiss, then looked over at May and frowned at the expression on her face. She wiggled down from Logan's lap and made her way over to climb up by May. "Why are you sad?" Sadie asked, looking up at her with a little frown.

"I'm not, sweetheart, I'm just … proud of him, and I love him very much."

"Me too," Sadie decided, nodding her head. She turned to watch the couple spinning in place and rested her chin on her crossed arms as she leaned on the table. "I hope he'll dance with me when I'm all grown up and get married, too."

May let out a little noise that made it clear to everyone at the table just how sweet she thought the little girl was before she pulled her into a hug. "Of course he will, Sadie. You're his goddaughter, after all — how could he refuse?" she said. "And he loves you very much."

"He's the best Spidey," Sadie whispered as she hugged May.

"Yes, but don't let Miles hear you say that," May said with a little smile and with her voice as whisper-quiet as Sadie's.

"Even Miles knows it's true," Sadie replied with a giggle.

May laughed and released Sadie from the snuggle. "That's because everyone loves my nephew. He's such a sweet boy."

"Real tender lil' b'ossom," Logan said with a smirk as he went back to his drink.

When Peter and Sara had finished their last dance together after that, it was time for the bouquet toss — which of course involved some of the kids who were old enough not to have gotten worn out by that point.

So when Krissy ended up catching the bouquet as it fell short of the taller girls, who had let the smaller kids go in front, she let out a giggle of delight on catching it — that only lasted until Sying made a great jump to get the garter, and then she was just shaking her head.

"It doesn't _mean _anything," she insisted with a little sniff.

Logan and K were laughing outright at her reaction — and the look of pure _pride _on Sying's face at catching the garter — and when Kurt started to gently agree with Krissy that it was simply a silly tradition, Logan ended up doing everything he could to keep from losing the mouthful of wine that he had, laughing to the point of tears, with K snickering alongside him.

"Good job, sparky maple leaf," K called out. "Great catch!" She turned to Kurt with a wicked grin and mouthed it out again. '_Great catch_'.

"You are not funny," Kurt said, his tail switching behind him.

"Yes, she is," Logan finally got out, wiping away the tears as he continued to laugh.

"It doesn't _mean _anything," Krissy insisted as she set the bouquet down on the table so she could more properly put both hands on her hips to look displeased with the two Howletts.

"You should give him a little kiss," Logan teased.

"I don't _want _to kiss him," Krissy said. "And Papa says I don't gotta kiss anybody I don't want to."

"Even on the cheek?" K asked. "Like you kiss Elin?"

Krissy let out a sigh of intense longsuffering before she trudged over to where Sying was and grabbed the front of his shirt to pull him over to kiss his cheek — though he was so surprised by the move that he instinctively turned toward her, and she ended up getting him right smack on the lips.

"_You did that on purpose_!" Krissy accused him, pushing him away from her as he shook his head with wide eyes.

"_You _kissed _me_!" the bright pink little half-Kree said, looking like he was red all the way down to his toes.

"I wasn't _trying _to kiss you on the mouth!" Krissy said, looking like this was the most distressing thing that could have possibly happened.

"There are way worse people to accidentally kiss," K said, trying to ease her down from how upset she was. "And he's not lying, sweetheart. It was an accident."

"I didn't mean to," Sying promised, and Krissy sized him up with one eye shut.

"Fine," she said at last before she reached over to grab him one more time and kiss him on the cheek. "_There."_

Jubilee leaned over with a little giggle to tap Kurt on the shoulder. "Behold the future."

Kurt turned to give her a very dry look. "You are not funny, Jubilation."

"Oh, but I so am."

As soon as Krissy slipped away, K and Logan both were in agreement with Jubilee, tipping their heads and nodding along with Jubilee. "She did kiss him again," Logan agreed.

"Because the first kiss was invalid," Kurt said, shaking his head.

"Have you ever kissed someone a second time that you _really _didn't want to kiss?" Logan challenged.

Kurt waved his hand at his friend. "They're young."

"Cases where _you _were kissed by someone you didn't want kissing you doesn't count either," Logan pointed out. He smirked at Kurt and pulled K a little closer before he tipped his head toward the little elfling again. "Aggressor."

Kurt almost couldn't help the smile as he said, "She gets _that _from her mother."

"I know. Assaulted an Elf real good first time she met you," Logan agreed. "Keep that in mind."

"Logan, if you could refrain from trying to turn me gray before my time, I would very much appreciate it."

"Just stating the obvious," he replied. "Suppose I could lie to you if you really want me to. She'd make a neat nun."

Kurt laughed outright at that. "Oh, if that were true, she would be the most interesting nun the Church has ever seen."

"Yep. Swashbuckling, arrow shooting, kissing all the cute boys _forcefully _…" Logan shook his head. "One-of-a-kind."

"And I suppose you'll fare so much better with your own — who I doubt would take the vows either," Kurt pointe out with a smirk.

"Not way in hell that's happenin'," Logan said with a laugh. "Too much like their parents."

"To be fair, at least Krissy has _slightly _more of a chance with her parentage," Kurt teased. "Who knows — the Church may be more open to our kind taking the vows by then."

K was the one to laugh outright at that, covering her mouth after a good outburst and then turning to hide her face in Logan's shoulder.

"I think that's a 'doubtful'," Logan said.

Kurt shook his head at K and rolled his eyes before he teleported off to go find Kate, leaving Jubilee smirking as she caught up to Sying and pulled him over to join the group. "Don't worry, sweetie," she told him. "All Hawkeyes are stubborn and mean about boys they like. Just ask your Uncle Kurt. Or your dad."

Sying shrugged up at Jubilee. "That's okay. I didn't mean to kiss her on the mouth," he said, though he didn't sound the least bit bothered — probably since he'd gotten a second kiss out of the whole thing.


	2. Menacingly Cute

**Chapter 2: Menacingly Cute**

Before the dancing was over, Logan and K made a point to steal away Peter and Sara to congratulate them and wish them well before the two of them finally got in a dance of their own and swept the kids up to call it a night, which was all fine and good except that apparently it was difficult to get James to abandon a few of the girls that were utterly charmed by the sweet little boy before he got a chance to 'dance' with them.

"I can walk with him home," Chance offered, grinning and clearly enjoying hanging out with James and watching him work (and joining in as well).

"I can walk myself," James said with a frown. "I already got a buncha kisses."

"Okay, if you want," Chance said with a shrug. "It's okay if you stay, though, 'cause this is fun. I like dancing."

Zoe had made her way over to the two boys by then, her red curls bouncing in the style her mom had done for her. "You guys dancing too?"

"Do you _want _to dance?" James asked.

Zoe shrugged. "I like dancing," she said.

James looked up at his mother, who nodded before he turned back to the other kids. "Do you want to dance with me or with Chance?"

"Chance is too tall," Zoe said matter-of-factly.

"Is that his only problem?" James laughed.

"Well, if you want a list, you have to dance with me, because that is a whole conversation."

"Maybe I do," James replied, tipping his chin up. "Are you going to tell me in Russian so you don't hurt his feelings?" He was grinning as he stepped closer to her.

Zoe giggled. "_Nyet_," she said. "Mom says it's best to learn and grow."

Chance was watching the two of them with his arms crossed and shaking his head. "You're not funny."

"You just say that because you're you," Zoe sang out his way.

"I can keep up with you," James promised. "But Dad doesn't like Russian very much."

"That's too bad," Zoe said as she took James by the hand to go dancing. "It's very pretty. And my dad says it's a mouth workout."

James shrugged. "Not much worse or better than a few of the others," he said.

"I thought we were teasing Chance, but we can talk about languages too," Zoe said with a grin.

"We can talk about whatever you want," James said with a grin. "Or we can just dance."

Zoe giggled as she danced with James. "Well, I like talking, but Mom's got me in dance lessons too," she admitted.

"My mom's teaching us to dance like this," James told her. "But I know you're learning ballet, right?"

She nodded. "I'm pretty good at it, except last week a girl fell and knocked me over, and I hit my head on the bar."

He frowned at that and popped up to kiss her forehead. "Don't do that."

She giggled and shook her head. "It wasn't _my _fault."

"So don't let anyone else do that," he replied.

"It wasn't her fault either; she just fell over on accident," Zoe pointed out.

"Okay," James said with a little shrug. "In our dance lessons, we were told it's the boy's job to keep their partner from falling. But I'm sure it's different for your class. They'll get it."

"We don't always have partners," Zoe explained. "But Nikki wants to take classes with me, and I think he'll be really good at lifting and things like in the ballets my class goes to on field trips."

"Sounds like you're going to make him have a little fun," he said with a smile.

"That's my _job_. I'm his big sister," Zoe laughed.

"Do you want to spin?" James asked.

Zoe giggled and nodded. "Okay."

James grinned and pulled her into a big, sweeping twirl that ended up stopping not too far from Natasha and Clint as the two little ones giggled.

"Zoe, love, we really should be going," Natasha said, though she was distinctly smirking at the two of them.

"Alright," Zoe said, letting out a sigh before she kissed James on the cheek. "That was fun dancing. You should learn ballet and we can do some really fun stuff."

"I'll think about it," James said before he gave her his very best grin. "See you soon!"

Clint was shaking his head as Natasha directed Zoe away. "It's genetic," he whispered.

"What?" Natasha asked with a teasing smile.

"The… trouble," Clint said, gesturing between Zoe and Natasha.

"Right, because you bring absolutely no trouble to the equation, Clint," Natasha laughed outright.

"I… bring different issues and you know it," Clint chuckled.

"Yes. And the small head wound last week was…"

"I'm going to get blamed for every time she scrapes her knee, aren't I?"

"Obviously," Natasha said with a fond sort of smile as she watched Clint scoop up the sleeping Nikolas.

And after the Romanoff family had left, James took a look across the dance floor and made a quick beeline to where Charlie was enjoying watching the crowd. "Come on, Charlie," he said, holding out his hand. "Let's dance."

She grinned at him and took the outstretched hand. "You're having fun," she said.

"Of course I am!" he replied, grinning widely. "Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know; I just know you're having fun," Charlie laughed. "Everyone is. It's _great_."

"Well quit soaking off of everyone else and spin around a little," James said. "Don't forget to have some fun yourself."

She laughed and nodded. "Okay, that's true," she admitted before she leaned forward with a crooked smile. "You and Chance have both been dancing with lots of girls," she teased.

He looked surprised for a second. "Is that bad? Do you think I should dance with … Sying instead?"

Charlie giggled. "No, it's not bad. My brother's a flirt, and he likes flirting. And you …" She tipped her head to the side. "You like making people smile. And Sying likes Krissy — you know _that_."

"Oh yeah; everyone knows that," he said offhandedly. "Not sure if Krissy knows or if she's just pretending not to, though." He leaned closer to her and dropped his voice lower. "I think she's scared of him."

Charlie tipped her head to the side as she thought about it. "A little bit," she said. "But I don't know why. That's not how my powers work."

"I know," James replied. "But I have a few ideas about that too."

"Okay, smarty pants," she giggled. "What have you got?"

"I think she secretly likes him back and it scares her." He shrugged. "Or … she's having alien nightmares. One or the other."

"She's not scared of aliens," Charlie laughed.

"Ah, but your powers don't work that way," he teased. "You don't _know._"

"I would know if she was scared around other aliens," Charlie pointed out. "I _know _she's scared sometimes in the mornings."

"And when she kissed Sying …"

"Shock, horror, fear, and a little bit of surprise and happy," Charlie listed off. "There's a lot of emotions in people. It's complicated."

"I know," he agreed. "And the more complicated you're being, the less fun you're having."

Charlie laughed. "That's why you just like having fun?"

"It's easier on everyone that way," he replied.

She grinned and stopped the dance to give him a solid hug. "You have a good heart," she said. "It sounds like a cadenza."

"As long as it's not a minuet," he shot back, grinning wider.

"You're ridiculous," she said, shaking her head at him as the song came to an end and they headed back together as Noh announced that the night was ending and that there would be one last dance before he packed up. She grinned over at James. "I don't think Sying and Krissy have even talked to each other since the kiss."

"Let's fix that," James said, rushing over toward Krissy with a grin. "Hey. Who have you danced with tonight?"

Krissy grinned over at him. "I danced with Kaleb a lot, actually," she admitted. "He wanted to dance _every _dance, and some of the girls his age took naps."

"Really?" James asked with his nose scrunched up. "Let's pick partners for each other."

"Why?" Krissy asked, matching his expression.

"Why not? I already danced with just about everyone, including one of the girls in Spidey's wedding."

Krissy shrugged. "Okay," she said, looking around to see who was left. "Maybe… you… oooh. You should dance with Melody. She _loves _dancing and music because of her name and her dad."

James nodded. "Okay, then let's go over together. Sying hasn't danced at _all, _and I think he still feels bad from earlier."

Krissy pushed out her lower lip as she studied James. "Umm."

"If he steps on your tail, I promise I'll cut in," he swore.

"He's not gonna step on my tail," Krissy said, as if James was dense.

"Well, okay, then if he bugs you, I'll cut in, I promise." He gave her a sheepish sort of smile. "Please?"

She let out all her breath. "Okay. But only because he hasn't danced. Because you're right; that's not fun."

"You're the best," he said before he kissed her cheek and grabbed her hand. "Come on — let's go."

Krissy let James take her over to where the Lee family was, making sure of course to say hi to Ael before she looked toward Sying and then held out her hand. "You should dance with me, because you haven't."

Sying looked totally surprised but seemed to decide that it would be better if he took Krissy up on the offer before she changed her mind and quickly took her by the hand to go out to the dance floor.

"I'm really, really sorry about the kiss earlier," Sying said.

"You didn't mean it," Krissy said.

"Well, I'm still sorry."

"It's okay. Can we just dance?" Krissy asked, shaking her head, and Sying nodded quickly and focused on leading like his dad and grandma had taught him.

James smiled at Melody and held out his hand. "Do you want to dance?"

Melody grinned. "Please!" she said, grabbing hold of his hand with a giggle. "We can watch my brother turn pink."

"Shhhh, we can see that from anywhere," James laughed.

"Yes, that's true, and I can hear them from anywhere too," Melody said.

He pulled her into a twirling turn, getting her to outright giggle all the way through it until they were back around to where Krissy and Sying were. "Did he step on your tail yet?" James asked.

"I did _not_," Sying said, scrunching up his nose.

"Hey, you never know," James defended.

"I'm not _five _anymore; I can control my tail," Krissy said defensively.

"It wasn't your tail I was worried about, but okay … _if you say so_," James replied, his nose up a bit, still grinning.

Krissy responded by sticking her tongue out and grabbing onto Sying a little more tightly before teleporting to the other side of the dance floor, closer to where the speakers were.

"She better be nicer to my brother," Melody said, shaking her head as she turned to watch, where not only Krissy and Sying but Chance and Elin were dancing.

"She will be," James said. "Just gotta point out to her when she's not as nice."

"That's what _my _mom calls high-maintenance."

"Dad would agree," James grinned. "Elves can be delicate."

Melody grinned up at him. "Yep. Sounds like Grampa Wolvie." She watched Krissy and Sying dancing and talking for a while longer. "I just don't get how come they're good friends until something happens and then they're not anymore."

"_Delicate._"

She gigged. "I know what it _means_. I'm proficient in English and Kree and a few other languages too."

"Some girls are more complicated than others," he said with a shrug.

"Same with boys," Melody pointed out.

"Oh yeah?" James asked. "Got one that needs to be hit?"

She giggled. "_No_. But Celeste has been following Howie around _all day_. And he's kinda weird."

"He really is," James agreed. "But … that's what happens when Iron Man's your dad I guess."

"I guess so," Melody said as the song started to come to an end and Elin made her way over with a grinning Chance.

"I guess we gotta go inside, huh?" Chance said, though he didn't look like he was ready to go in at all.

Melody looked over at James and got a little troublemaking look on her face that was familiar to everyone that had grown up with Jubilee. "Maybe."

"We … could play some midnight tag," James said with a shrug.

"Or _gentlemen_ would take ladies inside," Melody teased. "Escort us safely home and all that."

"Okay. But then I'll come back out and play," James grinned.

"Then…" Chance grinned. "Not it!" he shouted before taking off at full speed, with Melody giggling and running the other way — much faster.

James and Elin both shouted at the same time and took off straight into the lawn, though they were running silently, and both of them were sure to kick their shoes off as they ran, leaving Sying behind to be 'it'.

* * *

Erik was still smiling as he walked with May down the streets to walk her home. He had one hand resting on hers as she held onto his arm, and he couldn't have stopped smiling if he wanted to. It was wonderful to see this generation of heroes growing up, having families of their own…

And seeing May so _happy _was something else entirely. She was nearly giddy with pleasure seeing her nephew finally happy and settled down, and he loved seeing that in her.

"What's got you in such a good mood?" May teased as they walked together, resting her head on his arm.

"It's simply nice to see people I have grown to care for finding so much happiness with their families and friends," he said.

"You old romantic," she teased lightly.

He smiled at her as they walked several paces behind Peter and Sara, who were headed back to their own apartment nearby — their cruise wouldn't leave until the next morning. Even without Storm providing the perfect weather from before, it was still a nice night, with only a few clouds and a light breeze, so they were in no hurry to get home — that is, until there was a high-pitched sort of whining sound, and Peter's spider senses went haywire as he quickly pulled Sara to the ground and called for the other two to watch out a split second before there was an explosion.

They were close to the park, so in terms of debris, it wasn't too bad, especially with Erik shielding them and Peter's spider sense — but the explosion was clearly designed to stop them in their path as a deranged sort of laughter hit their still-ringing ears.

Which was all well and good, except the percussion grenade that went off moments later wasn't something either Erik or Peter could work around easily, and with Erik's frail health, it was enough to knock him off of his feet and take him out of commission — for a moment, at least.

Peter fared only slightly better, knocked backward but not out, though he was more concerned about Aunt May and Sara than anything else as he took a few running steps down the street, figuring the Green Goblin would follow him. "I see you brought the look back!" he called out, possibly a bit louder than he meant to; his ears were still ringing. "Tired of being just plain ol' Normikins?"

But Norman Osborn wasn't listening to him in the least. Instead, his attention was on the three unconscious people in the street, and he was gleefully humming to himself as he tore off part of the fence by the park to start simply wrapping and pulling the chain link around and around the girls and Erik.

"Oh… Normy… you… need to rethink your life decisions," Peter said, though he was already setting his cell to record as he webbed it to a street corner — something non-metallic.

"Just wrapping up the loose ends, Spidey," Osborn cackled his way. "Don't want them getting in the way…" He laughed to himself as he clapped his hands together, admiring his good work, before he turned back to Peter, finally giving him his full attention.

"No … you really don't want to do that," Peter replied. "It's not even about me. I'm legitimately concerned for your mental health, and even I know that ship sailed _years ago_."

Osborn grinned his way as he bounced one of his bombs from one hand to the other. "It's not _my _health you should be concerned with, Spidey," he said before he tossed the bomb Peter's way, already readying another one as he did so. "Nothing personal, Spiderman; it's just that you don't fit in my plans for SHIELD… so I guess it _is _personal. Ha!" He laughed as he tossed another bomb — though to his surprise, it stopped in mid-air, simply floating there for a moment.

"What?" He wrinkled his nose at the bomb, which started to come apart before his very eyes, disassembling itself into little pieces. He felt the glider lurch slightly beneath his feet, and that was enough to get him to spin around in place, wide-eyed when he saw that all of the trash cans, cars, poles, street signs — anything metal was floating about ten feet off the ground, including the chain link fence he'd so carefully wrapped around Parker's friends.

The man he had _assumed _was just an acquaintance of May Parker's was hovering several feet off the ground, looking positively livid, one hand held out with the fingers outstretched as the chain link fence started to crumple in on itself now that no one was in it, tearing into sharp-looking points.

"Is this _really _the best you can do?" Erik scoffed, his lip curled up. "Cheap parlor tricks and Halloween costumes?"

"Magneto!" Osborn called out, falling into a smile. "And they said you were retired."

"Yes, well, I'll make an exception for extreme idiocy," he drawled out, his chin tipped down as he glared Osborn's way. The glider that Osborn was standing on suddenly stopped spewing out smoke as it disassembled right from under him, though the straps that held his feet only tightened down more as the floating bits morphed and began to wrap around him tightly.

The Green Goblin looked honestly panicked the tighter the metal wrapped around him. After all, supervillains didn't have the same codes that he was used to dealing with from the likes of Peter Parker. Codes, yes, but even he wasn't insane enough to think that meant Magneto wouldn't finish him off then and there. "There's been a little misunderstanding," he said in a strained voice as his arms were pinned down and he couldn't reach any of his gadgetry — not that it would have helped, as it was all more or less falling apart in front of him. "This is between me and Spiderman."

"No, it _was_," Erik replied. "Until you pulled me into it. Now it's between _us._"

"Oh, come on," Osborn laughed nervously, which only got the metal wrapped around him to squeeze tighter. "Without the gaudy purple helmet, how was I supposed to know? You look nothing like yourself!" he wheezed.

"Coming from a man in a mask, I'm not going to take much of what you have to say into account." Erik floated up higher, pulling Osborn along with him before he casually glanced down at Peter. "I won't be long. Do check on the ladies, Mr. Parker."

Peter stared up at the two floating men in something like disbelief. "Uh… huh," he said, shaking his head to himself before he rushed over to check on Sara and May, though he wasn't sure if he should rouse them when he could hear Osborn far above him _begging _Erik for mercy, claiming it was all one big mistake and couldn't they talk about this?

"I'll not allow you to torture that boy one moment longer," Erik growled out.

"Gee, Aunt May, when you started dating Magneto, I didn't realize that meant I was getting a guardian supervillain," Peter said, shaking his head to himself as he satisfied himself that both Sara and May were alright and gently started to rouse them both — though only after he was sure Erik and Norman were either too far away to hear anymore or… well. Done. He wasn't exactly keen to check in on them.

When Erik returned, alone, he still looked as if he was ready to take something apart, though the set of his shoulders was considerably more relaxed than it had been when he had initially started the floating supervillain routine.

Peter helped Sara and May both to their feet as he glanced over to where Erik was still a couple inches above the ground and had a nasty-looking cut on his temple, which probably hadn't helped Norman's case.

"Is everyone alright?" Erik asked, as calmly and gently as he had been before Norman showed up to wreck their evening.

"Banged up but alright," Sara said as she steadied herself against Peter. "More annoyed than anything. On our _wedding _night. Creep."

"He won't be of concern any longer," Erik said quietly, more to Peter than anyone.

"Yeah… Um. Thanks?" Peter rubbed the back of his neck, not entirely sure what the right reaction was when the supervillain dating his aunt had likely just killed his longtime archnemesis. How this was his life… he had no idea.

"Just enjoy your honeymoon," Erik replied with a small smile.

"Are _you _alright?" May asked, a slight frown on her face since, aside from Peter's torn-up suit and the dust and rubble they were all wearing, Erik was the only one with a visible injury.

He waved it off with a little frown. "Perfectly fine," Erik replied.

"Ha. You sound like Peter," May said, shaking her head at him as she took his arm. "Let's get inside. Let me look at that."

"Honestly, it's nothing to concern yourself with," Erik told her.

"Yes, I'm sure that line passed in the X-Men or with the people you used to run with, but in _my _house, when someone is bleeding, they're required to sit down and at least get cleaned up," she told him in a voice not to be argued with.

He frowned deeper and raised his hand to his forehead. "Bleeding?" he said, sounding entirely like he was sure she was making it up, only to let out a little 'oh' when he saw the crimson on his fingers. "I thought it was a bump."

"You clearly haven't seen your reflection," May said kindly, patting his arm. "Come on; I've haven't been Peter's aunt for this long without a well-stocked emergency medical supply kit."

"Yes, I've seen the way he whips around buildings," Erik agreed.

"Hey I have super strength, you know," Peter pointed out, very sure he didn't want to get pulled into… whatever this was.

"Yet you're not invulnerable," Erik pointed out over his shoulder as they continued their walk.

"Neither are, like, ninety-nine percent of the heroes in the world," Peter pointed out, shaking his head as Sara started laughing at his expression. He ducked his head down to grin at Sara. "When did this become my life, huh?"

"What part — the protective family or the new wife?" she teased.

"Oh, well, one of those things is on a _whole _other scale of exciting," Peter said with a grin before he kissed her and then pulled his arm around her shoulders, shaking his head to himself as he tried not to pay _too _much attention to the fact that Erik and May were now on a tangent about reckless young heroes….


	3. First Day of School

**Chapter 3: "First Day of School"**

The week after Peter and Sara's wedding was the first week of school, so the days leading up to it were fairly busy as students started coming in from summer break — or for the first time as transfer students, in a few cases.

The incoming class was already three kids larger with Charlie and Chance starting to go with the rest of the student population. Charlie had enough of a handle on her powers that she felt she could handle the crowds, and of course, if Charlie was going, Chance wanted to go as well. And Gerry Drew had decided to start going to school there as well, since, as he said, "I'd have to start a new school for middle school anyway, so I might as well go with my friends."

But Annie had decided there was one more name that needed to be on the rolls that year, and she couldn't believe she was the only one who had noticed it as she pulled Scott aside that morning.

"We need to put James in class with the older students," she told him, with no preamble, a wide smile on her face as she shoved a stack of her notes from homeschooling the younger kids toward him. "He is _wasted _where he is now."

Scott looked surprised as he took the stack of papers she'd put in his chest. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that boy is holding himself back," Annie said. "He's _bored. _He doesn't need to be in third grade with the others his age; he needs to be at _least _at Gerry's level." She tapped the top paper. "His reading level, his math skills… Scott, I've been giving him the same homework I give Chance and Charlie, and he's breezed through it."

Scott still looked surprised. "Are you… sure?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Summers. Of the two of us, who went to school for a teaching degree?"

Scott straightened up at that. "Right. Well, you should talk to Logan first, but if you really think he needs to be pushed more, we can draw up a schedule for him."

Annie grinned triumphantly as she snatched her notes back and kissed Scott. "I knew you'd see things my way," she laughed, then kissed him again for good measure before she bounced out of the office to go find Logan or K.

She somehow wasn't surprised to find K with both of the Wagner boys. Kaleb simply loved K, and Kade did everything Kaleb did, so they were following K around, grinning as she washed her hands after coming in from the barn and just waiting for her to play with them.

"Boys, do you mind if I borrow K for a moment?" Annie asked with a teasing smile. "It's very important, or I wouldn't ask."

"Go on, boys," K said, though she dropped down to their level to give them both kisses. "Annie will give you an extra cookie later."

The boys both grinned at that and went rushing off to go play, with the promise of sugary bribes getting them to giggle as Annie shook her head. "Do _you _need extra cookies?" she asked with a slight tease to her voice as she gestured for K to sit down with her.

"Um … _no_," K replied. "What's on your mind? Aside from a burning desire to see me fat?"

Annie smiled at her and pushed forward her notes. "Your son is too smart to be where he is," she told K. "He needs to be learning at a higher level."

"Not surprised," K said easily.

"K, he's reading _years _above his level, he's breezing through homework at a middle school level… he should be grades ahead of where he is," Annie said. She smiled brilliantly. "He's, well, a genius."

K glanced up at her bright smile and nodded. "And I'm not surprised. He picks up languages faster than Elin, and I don't think he forgets _anything, _regardless of what he says."

"I just need you and Logan to sign off on it, and I'd like to set him up with a schedule in the regular classes here at the school. He should really be with kids on his level." Annie paused. "If you're more comfortable with him staying with younger children, I can try to work something up to his level…"

"Give it a try the other way first," K said. "If he can't take the big kids, then we'll figure something out."

Annie beamed at her. "Great! I'll work something up for him and try to make sure at least for the first year he's got every class with at least one of the other kids he knows in it. Chance or Charlie or Gerry — that should help with integration."

K nodded at that. "Sounds like you have it all figured out," she said.

"This isn't the first time I've had a little boy come across my classroom too smart for his own good," Annie said with a smile. "Though admittedly, James is far beyond just bumping a kid up a grade. He's brilliant. You should be proud."

"Oh, always," K told her. "But … I gotta ask … do you want to be the one to tell Logan?"

"Oh, I can if you had plans with those sweet boys," Annie said, grinning widely.

"They wanted me to show them how to make daisy chains again," K said. "I think they want to shower the girls in flower crowns."

"Well, consider the source," Annie laughed before she got to her feet. "You don't think he's with James, do you? Before I finalize a schedule, I do want to talk to James as well. He should have a say, after all."

"He might be," K replied. "I think James wanted to go fishing earlier."

"I'll see if I can catch them, then," Annie said. "Out by the lake?"

"Should be," she replied. "Have fun. You look like you have this pitch down solid now."

"After having to remind Scott who has the actual teaching degree, I think I've worked out the kinks," Annie laughed, giving K a quick squeeze before she rushed off to go find Logan and James.

The two of them were, as K had said, out by the lake fishing, which made this much simpler as Annie rushed over to greet them, papers in hand and a grin on her face. "Logan, James! Can I talk to you both for a minute?"

"Sure," Logan said as James leaned way back to peek at her past his father's back.

"We have an extra pole if you wanna fish too," James offered.

"No thank you," she said with a sweet smile. "I just wanted to ask you both your opinion on what you wanted to do this year for school." She glanced up at Logan and shoved her notes at him. "He's _way _too smart to be in elementary classes, Logan. I want to put him in classes with the rest of the student population."

Logan read through her notes, taking his time to check over all of the little writing in the margins where she'd come across something she was particularly excited about. "What do you think, kiddo?" Logan said, looking over at James.

The little boy turned to look up at Annie again and them back to his father before he shrugged. "I dunno. What kind of classes do I need?"

"Everything you're taking right now, sweetheart, just at a more challenging level for you," she said. "Math, science, history, English… and if you want to go to classes with the other students, I'll personally make sure that either Chance, Charlie, or Gerry is in every class so you aren't the only one there close to your age."

"You don't have to do that," James said with a little frown.

"Honey, if it makes you more comfortable, I'll do whatever you ask," she told him seriously. "If you don't want the other kids around, if you think you'd rather stay in homeschooling, I'll work up something for you there too. I just think that you would do better in this setting."

"No, I mean you don't have to mess up Chance and Charlie and Gerry," James said. "The big kids are nice to me."

"Well, I don't have a schedule set for you yet, so I wouldn't have to rearrange anything for them," she promised. "Chance and Charlie wanted different schedules anyway, so that they could make new friends."

James thought about it and looked up at Logan. "Can I still take karate with everyone?"

"Sure," Logan said with a nod. "And if you decide you don't like it, you can go back to how it was."

"Exactly," Annie said, nodding enthusiastically. "But in the meantime, this might be good for you. I think you'll like the challenge."

He shrugged and turned back to his fishing pole. "Yeah, okay, sure."

"Sounds like a go to me," Logan told Annie as he handed her the papers and notes back.

"Great. I'll have a schedule to you tomorrow morning," she promised, grinning even more widely as she hugged the papers to her chest. "Oh, and tell Sadie I'm looking forward to seeing her on Monday. She and Kaleb have been _so _excited about Kindergarten."

"Sure thing," Logan said easily. "Let me know if you need anything."

"I will," Annie promised, already rushing off to get down to work. "Have fun fishing!" she called over her shoulder, still grinning.

* * *

Charlie was a little bit nervous about going to class, though considering how _over the moon _her brother was that morning, she wasn't going to say anything about it. After all, just being in the same room with him being as excited as he was helped her anyway.

She had barely started to get a handle on how to turn how powers _off_, though the first time she'd done that, she was struck by a deafening silence and a feeling of incredible isolation, like she was cut off from everyone around her in a way she'd never been before. So she preferred to leave them on, but at a low level, just skimming the surface emotions.

So Chance was brimming with excitement, Cody was a little grumpy — he hated being in the middle and not being able to go to school with the bigger kids — and Chloe was thrilled that she and the other kids her age would all be starting Kindergarten, albeit across several different schools, since Billy's magical kids, as Kate called them, were spread out across Avengers and different schools.

Annie was thrilled — she always was on the first day. And Scott was focused on getting it all set up, though Charlie could tell when she sat next to him at breakfast that he was proud, too. So, she grinned up at him. "Don't worry, Dad. I won't get lost on the way to class. I know my way around," she teased.

"I'm not worried," he promised her, smiling as he reached over to ruffle her hair.

She patted his arm and stood up to give him a kiss on the cheek before she hurried off to go change into the outfit she'd picked out last night for her first day and run a brush through her curly hair.

"Hey, Charlie, have you seen my other tennis shoe?" Chance asked as he poked his head into their room.

"It fell under the bed."

"Thanks!" he called out before he dropped down to the floor to fish it out from under the bed, grinning triumphantly when he came up and not realizing that he had messed up his hair in the process.

Charlie laughed at him and pushed his hair back down, shaking her head at him. "It's not like we don't already _live _here," she pointed out.

"Yeah, but… this is the school where you go to become an X-Man," Chance pointed out, grinning widely.

"Or where you go if you need a little extra protection," Charlie countered. "You know, like if your parents are X-Men?"

"Oh, come on, Charlie. Don't rain on my parade."

She laughed at him as she pulled her own shoes on and then picked up her backpack. "Well, what class do you have first?"

"Math." Chance pulled a face. "Great way to start the morning, right? What about you?"

"English," Charlie said, smiling.

"Lucky. That's your favorite class."

"Besides Miss Daisy's music class."

"Yeah, that doesn't count. You're already the best piano player ever."

She laughed and shoved her brother in the arm as they headed out into the hallway, then split once they got to where they were supposed to be.

And, suddenly, Charlie was nervous again. Without Chance and his overflowing excitement and confidence, or her dad and how proud he was to see both of them going to _his _school… well, it was different walking down the halls filled with kids that were bigger than her. Sure, this was a smaller school, and yeah, the kids were always nice to the teachers' kids, but that didn't help the gnawing feeling in her stomach as she got to Kate's English class.

Of course, Kate smiled warmly at her when she got there, and the other kids that found their spots seemed nervous about going back to school. Charlie wondered if that was just something that happened every year.

"Are you new too?" asked a girl who took the seat next to Charlie with a nervous smile. She had bright green eyes that glowed and seemed to have gills as well, though she was wearing a turtleneck sweater, so it was hard to tell. "It just got here from California."

"It's my first day," Charlie admitted. "I'm Charlie Summers."

"Whitney Lang," the girl said with a smile. "Did you go to one of the other schools first? Miss Marvel found me a few months ago and came and talked to my parents…"

"No," Charlie said with a little smile. "I…" She paused, wondering how to explain it without sounding like she was showing off. "I grew up here, actually. My dad's one of the teachers."

"Oh, great! Then you know where all the classes are," Whitney said, sounding relieved.

Charlie nodded, relieved herself that Whitney wasn't taking it as Charlie bragging or something like that. "Yeah, do you need help finding something?"

Whitney nodded. "I got totally lost yesterday when I tried to walk my schedule? That's what me and my mom used to do when I'd go to school back in Oregon."

"Oh, well, if you ask any of the teachers or older kids, I bet they'd have helped you," Charlie told her kindly.

Whitney scrunched up her nose. "I don't want to look like I'm lost all the time."

"It's okay to be lost in a new place," Charlie pointed out. She smiled at Whitney. "But if you show me your schedule, maybe I can give you directions."

"That would be great," Whitney said, pulling out the sheet of paper from her back pocket, and the two girls shared a quick, whispered conversation before the bell rang and class began — and Charlie was surprised at how, well, surprised she was that it was already time for classes to start.

Maybe this wouldn't be so horrible after all.

* * *

The Howlett kids were all sitting together early, and though Sadie was fired up about her first day of school and kicking her feet over the edge of her chair, Elin and James were simply doing their usual morning wake up, drawing little things between them on a sheet of paper. It was silly, but it was how they liked to start their day. One would start with a simple shape, and the other would add to it … and before long, they were telling a story between them on what it was they were drawing.

But neither of them were particularly nervous about anything at all outside of making sure that their little drawing had a reasonable story to go with it as they tried to one up each other.

As was tradition, big days meant something special to wake up with, and while their mother was uncomfortable more and more on her feet, the three kids were tickled to dig into the omelettes their dad had whipped up instead to go with their green tea. Since K had stopped almost entirely with coffee, the whole family had followed suit, even if it did seem to tweak a fairly large part of the staff to have everyone else sharing coffee brewing duties. Kate, of course, had suffered the most for it, but she at least had been tactful about it.

Krissy was the first of the Wagners to show that morning, excited for the new year, and ready to go to class arm in arm with her best friend. She leaned forward so she was looking past Elin to James with a serious expression in place. "Who are you going to walk to class with?" she asked.

"I don't need to be walked to class," James replied, scrunching up his nose. "I know where everything is."

"Well … _yeah _but … are you gonna go with one of the Summerses? Or … you should have a friend."

James rolled his eyes and tipped his head back as far as he could. "I'm not a _baby_," James said in the most dramatic, beaten-down tone he could manage.

"_Everybody _needs friends, not just babies," Krissy shot back. "You don't have to be so touchy."

"Then I'll go _make one_," James replied with a smirk.

Krissy rolled her eyes and waved her hand at him. "Whatever, James."

"Oh, come on, you won't miss me," James said.

"It's not gonna be as fun," Kari said, poking her head out from around Krissy's shoulder.

James gave her one of his best grins. "Yeah, but Dad said I can still do our karate class …. Soooo…."

"So I'm totally gonna kick your butt!" Kari giggled, immediately cheering up.

"You can _try_," James shot back.

"Ooh, just you wait until I can 'port," Kari said, drawing herself up with her tail swishing back and forth.

"It's going to be awesome," James grinned.

"And I'll kick your butt _even harder_."

"We'll have to wait and see," James said before he finished up his tea and put his dishes away. On the way back, he zipped over and tapped Kari on the shoulder for the expressed purpose of kissing her cheek when she turned. "Good luck!"

"Have fun with the big kids!" Kari said, grinning widely at him. James couldn't help but smirk to himself on his way to class. He slung his bag over his shoulder that held his notebooks and pens and rushed off to Scott's morning math class. He wasn't the first kid into class, and he didn't hesitate to find a spot off to the side and halfway back.

Scott had to shake his head as James walked in like he owned the place and simply took a seat, sitting on his hands as he waited for things to get started.

"I think you're in the wrong class, little guy," one of the bigger kids told him, staring at him and waiting for him to move out of the way so the group could sit together.

"Yeah, no," James said, looking up at the kid with a completely calm expression. "I'm in the right spot, thanks."

The older boy let out a breath of a laugh and took the seat right next to him. "Alright then. Let me know if you need help."

James turned his way and raised an eyebrow at him. "We'll see."

Scott had to smirk as he saw the interaction and then shook his head as the other kids started to trickle in. Unsurprisingly, Chance had already started talking with a couple of the girls in the class, though the boys seemed content to do their own thing. Chance waved at James with a grin and then both of them sat on opposite sides of the room.

Scott wasn't too worried about either of them. James was brimming with confidence, and Chance was already making friends. They were both fine.

* * *

Gerry was grinning when he got to the school, though he had to duck his mom on the way in when she reminded him that she'd be around to pick him up if he needed it. She meant well, he knew. He was also _very _sure that she had been put up to it. By his dad. Who was a worrier sometimes.

Either way, he was glad to get inside and get _going_. He'd had a few lessons on weekends there, trying to get his light powers under control, but the actual _classes_ were something else.

He had grown over the summer, too, so he felt a little bit more like he belonged there. He was at least as tall as some of the older kids. And there were a few his age, too.

First up on his schedule was history, and while he wasn't as familiar with the _classrooms _themselves as he was with the main areas where he would hang out with his friends, he was able to figure it out okay, finding himself a seat relatively up front.

When Logan arrived for the class, he didn't pay Gerry much attention, but that was alright. He was actually kind of relieved on that account, because he wasn't that good at history. He was _way _more interested in math and science. He'd been so, so bad at history in his old school, mostly because it was kind of boring.

Instead of calling attendance, Logan sent around a sign in sheet and got started, kicking off the year with a short intro on how World War One started — and then diving right into a recount of some of the finer details of trench warfare.

By the time it was all through and it was time for the next class, Gerry was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't been bored at all. Actually, he thought it was really _cool_.

Which he never, ever thought about history. He mostly thought things like learning about weird animals or science facts was cool. But not _History_.

He grinned as he waved at Logan on the way out of class, not really expecting a response, though when he got to English and saw that James was there with him, he had to grin even wider.

"Okay, your dad's history class? Not horrible," he said as he caught up to his friend.

"What were you expecting? A list of dates to memorize?" James asked.

"Uh… yeah," Gerry said with a shrug. "And a lot of talking. That's how they usually go."

"Dad doesn't like to listen to anything that's boring," James told him. "He's not going to want to _talk _about anything that's boring either."

"Makes sense." Gerry grinned. "So, what was your first class? Seeing as you weren't in history."

"Math with Uncle Scooter," James replied.

"Ooh. I've got that after science with Hank," Gerry said. "Great way to end the day, right?"

"It's not bad," James said with a shrug.

"Too easy for ya?" Gerry teased.

"So far?" James said, grinning. "Yeah."

"Did you tell him that? 'Cause I bet he'd get huffy. And then probably give you harder stuff."

"Give him a few days to warm up," James said. "Maybe it'll get better."

"I'm just excited for science," Gerry admitted. "Mom and Dad both have been buying me different books. I want to be a doctor, but Dad says 'no' to anatomy books until I'm at least twelve."

"Better tell that to Dad," James said. "He uses them in combat class."

Gerry grinned crookedly. "No, no. You didn't tell me that. Because then I'd have to mention it to _my _Dad. Better if I don't know it's coming."

"You'll find out in class," James pointed out.

"Yeah. _After_ the fact." Gerry rolled his eyes. "I live in Avengers Tower. With Tony Stark. I don't know what he thinks is so… I mean. Come on."

"I don't know what the big deal is anyhow," James replied.

Gerry shrugged as they got to their seats. "You wanna sit by the window or …"

"Whatever's open," James replied.

"I'm snatching the one by the window," Gerry decided. "Ever since I got my powers, I like being in the sunlight better."

"Sounds good to me," James said. "I've only got so long left to still get a tan."

"We should do our homework outside after school then," Gerry suggested. "I freckle more than tan, but hey, looks good." He pointed to the smattering across his nose.

"I don't get those either," James said as he followed Gerry into the room.

"I'm told they're cute," Gerry said with a crooked grin.

"Who told you that? Your mom?" James teased.

Gerry shrugged. "Well, yeah," he said, perfectly openly. "That and, oh, every single girl in the Avengers."

"So … all the old aunt types," James said, nodding before he drew in a deep breath and let it out at once. "Sounds about right."

Gerry rolled his eyes at James. "You can try to brush it off because you're jealous, but I will still be adorable."

"Not as adorable as others," James said as he took his seat.

"It's true. I'm never gonna be able to stand up to some of the other kids. I think Sadie has everyone beat by a country mile," Gerry laughed.

"Hands down," he agreed.

"And obviously my fellow Hawkeyes. Especially Kade. Can't argue with a little bitty maroon elfling that wears Spiderman Band-aids everywhere he goes."

"Band-aids are not cute, Gerry," James said, shaking his head.

"They are when they have Spiderman on them," Gerry said with a smirk.

James shook his head with his eyes closed. "No."

Kate grinned at the all-too-familiar interaction before she cleared her throat to get class started, calling attendance and trying hard not to laugh too much at the boys by the window.

* * *

And while some of the older X-kids were getting settled into their first day in the "official" classes, the younger kids had school with Annie.

Cody was still put out that he was so much younger than his big brother and sister and couldn't go to classes with them, but since it was also Chloe's first day of Kindergarten, he got distracted playing older brother to her when she plopped herself down beside him with the letter tracing that Annie had given her and a grin.

"We can do school together, see?" she said with such a perfectly open look that Cody couldn't even try getting mad as he nodded and scooted his own subtraction problems over so that his sister could have room for her careful, careful tracing.

Kaleb popped up next to the two of them with his own tracing and sat down on Chloe's other side. "This school thing isn't so bad," he decided, juice box in one hand and crayon in the other.

"That's 'cause _you _aren't learning about fractions," Krissy said, sticking her tongue out at her little brother, who stuck his tongue right back out at her in return.

"You are both silly," Kari said, rolling her eyes as she sat between her two siblings almost primly.

Sadie meanwhile, was working on her scrap paper, working down the paper with her crayon as she hummed to herself. She was doing her name perfectly … but from top to bottom rather than left to right.

Annie looked over her shoulder and raised her eyebrows. "Sadie, that's an interesting way to write your name."

She beamed up at her with her most winning smile. "Thank you!"

"Would you like to try it how the others are writing theirs?" she prompted.

"Um …. Alright," she said slowly as she set her crayon down.

"You're doing it perfectly," Annie promised. "It's just that we read from left to write, like the other kids are writing, see?"

Sadie frowned and looked over at Cody's paper. "O...kay," she said slowly before she picked up the crayon again and started to try it Annie's way, though she slanted her letters down at a sharp angle.

Annie watched her for a moment and glanced over the little doodles Sadie was making. "Honey, are you reading in Japanese?" she asked gently, finally catching on to what was going on, seeing as the kids learned all their different languages so well, and so quickly.

"_Yes_," she said. She picked up a blue crayon and carefully drew out a series of symbols. "That means teacher."

"Well, that explains it," Annie said before she very carefully picked up the scrap paper. "It's beautiful, Sadie," she said. "Do you mind if I keep it? It's very pretty."

She shook her head quickly and picked up another sheet of paper to start writing again.

"Well, in English, you write your letters left to right. I know it's very confusing," Annie said sweetly.

"Um … okay," Sadie said, much quicker than before, almost singing it to herself.

Annie smiled and pulled out some sheets of paper with large, blue lines — with two lines on the top and bottom and a dotted line in the middle. "Here. This is what I used with my kids in Alaska." She smiled at Sadie. "And while you work on your letters, do you think it would be okay if I sat with you and tried to copy your 'teacher'?"

"Okay," Sadie said. "But you have to make the lines in the right order or it's _wrong_."

"Oh, I didn't know that," Annie said. "Can you show me?"

Sadie nodded happily and started to show her the right lines in the right direction, explaining how the lines went just so. And in turn, Annie showed her how to touch the top of capital letters to the top of the lines.

* * *

The group of students gathering for self-defense was as excitable as could be expected, especially considering this school in particular was the one meant to help churn out heroes, so most of the kids felt like this was one of the most important classes if that was the path they wanted.

Toward the afternoon, the group wasn't the older kids like Eleanor, who was in the junior squad. This group was closer to the younger side of things, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen — and Chance and James as well, since Annie had definitely made sure that James had classes with the other kids, and seeing as neither Gerry nor Charlie wanted to be X-Men, she had made the executive decision that the boys would stick together for this lesson.

The kids were all gathering together, and because they were younger, there were several new faces, enough that there were plenty of introductions to be made.

Which was all well and good until the introductions got to the "so what can _you _do?" portion of the afternoon.

A couple of the boys, who were on the older side of things, seemed to be leading the mini interrogation. Brian, who could fly, and Casey, who was invulnerable, seemed to both think they would be shoe-ins for heroics and were already preening themselves over how much better they thought they would be for this class than everyone else.

Chance and James had of course started warming up as soon as they stepped into the room, knowing full well what Logan would expect from them, and neither of them were about to disappoint him.

"And what do _you _two do?" Brian asked, touching down close by where they were.

James looked over at Chance as he pulled his arm across his chest. "We can do enough," James said.

"No, your mutation," Casey said.

"Oh, I don't have one yet," James said. "And it's not anyone's business, really."

"It is if we're all gonna be learning together," Brian said.

"Maybe," James said. "But it doesn't matter in this class what you can do with your mutation."

Casey narrowed his eyes at James, clearly not liking the look of him, as his buddy turned to Chance. "And what about you? You gonna hide behind 'not your business' too?"

"I don't have one," Chance said, arms crossed over his chest.

"And he can do _more _than enough," James added.

Chance grinned over at James. "So can you. You're selling yourself short with just 'enough.'"

James shrugged and shook his arms out. "We'll see how it goes."

"So, who let you two in?" Casey sneered. "If you haven't even got a mutation."

Before either of the boys could answer the question, Logan walked in the room, glaring at the whole group of them. "You're going to need partners to start," Logan called out.

James immediately whirled around to Casey. "That means you and me, rookie."

Casey sneered at him. "I'm not going to make a little kid _cry _on the first day."

"Yeah, that's never gonna happen," James replied with a cocky grin.

"Unless you're scared to fight someone so much younger than you," Chance said, grinning over at James.

"James, Chance — you're not pairing up together," Logan called out. "Pick someone and break 'em in easy."

"Sure thing, Dad," James called out, turning back to the two of them.

"Don't worry; James already picked someone out," Chance said, then gestured to Brian. "Guess that means you're with me, Ace."

"'Dad'?" Casey said, wrinkling his nose at James. "Well _that _explains how you got in. Favoritism."

"I've always been here," James pointed out. "And if you want to know what my mutation is, look at my dad. That's what it is. So take a fighting stance and I'll try not to make you cry."

"I'm invulnerable, Junior Wolverine," Casey shot back, settling into a stance.

"Not in here you're not," James pointed out before he darted forward and swept his feet out from under him, dropping him hard. "The whole point of self-defense is to make sure you can pull your own sorry butt out of trouble without your abilities."

"Which kind of gives me an advantage," Chance said with a smirk as he squared up with the older boy. "Nothing that _I'm _leaning on to try and pull my butt out."

"Yeah, just 'cause you're friends with the teacher's kid doesn't mean he's gonna pull your butt out either," Brian said.

James started laughing at that one. "You think that's going to make it easier?"

Chance grinned over at him. "Shh, James. He has to _learn_," he said, perfectly straight-faced for a moment before he turned back to Brian and simply dropped him. Hard. "Don't worry about it. It takes practice," Chance said with a perfectly kind smile as he offered Brian a hand up.

Casey was still flat on his back as James held his ready stance and Logan walked over toward them. "Get up," he called out to both boys on the ground. "You gonna let a little kid kick your ass?"

That had Brian losing his temper as, instead of taking Chance's hand to get back up, he tried to yank the smaller boy down to his level, though he didn't know that he wasn't going to get the advantage that way either, since Chance just rolled with it and ended up pinning Brian again, with one arm behind him.

"If you don't know how to fight from the ground, don't start something you can't finish," Logan growled out Brian's way before he gave Chance a little nod to let him up, and Chance backed off of the guy but didn't offer him another hand up. When Chance was nearly level with Logan, Logan thumped him in the back of the head. "Don't give your opponent a chance to drag you down. Even when you do know how to ground fight." He turned to deal with the rest of the class as they tried to fight each other in pairs.

Chance rubbed the back of his head and then grinned ruefully over at James. "Well that was fun."

"Nice job, teacher's pet," James deadpanned. "C+ at _best_."

"_Why_. Why would you do that to me on the first day?" Chance shot back, shaking his head at James. "That's not a name I need, even jokingly."

"Don't worry about it," James said. "If they give you flack, I'll make sure they pay for it."

"I can fight my own fights."

"I know," James said quietly as he leaned closer. "But I have one of Spidey's webshooters. Okay? For … research."

"And now I've lost my plausible deniability," Chance teased.

"Like you wouldn't want in on the ground floor," James replied. "Come on; we can kick them around a little more. How about … tosses only?"

Chance grinned. "Well, it _is _a class. Place of learning. All that."

"And they _do_ need to learn."

"Ex-actly," Chance said before he went back to where Brian and Casey were muttering between themselves and clearly sore about how things had turned out.

"Come on; let's go again," James offered, though he didn't take his stance, and Chance could see he was trying to bait them. "He'd have put us with you anyhow. We go with whoever needs the most work."

Casey glared at him for that one. "Spoiled little punk," he said.

"I'm _so _hurt," James said, one hand over his heart.

Chance shook his head as Casey rushed James — and very quickly found himself flat on his back once more. "That was a bad idea," he told Brian conversationally. "No form, just pure … rush in blindly."

Brian glared at Chance before he pulled back, more controlled than Casey had been as he tried to hit Chance, but Chance had been practicing throws with Elin and James for long enough to get Brian over his shoulder, though he was admittedly heavier than his usual test dummies.

"Oof. Remind me to do strength training more," he told James, shaking his head.

"Do more strength training," James shot right back.

"Thanks, James. That's real helpful." Chance stepped back from Brian as the older boy climbed to his feet.

The whole class went on like that for a few minutes before Logan called for a stop and started dividing the class up by potential level — and naturally, Brian and Casey were put on the far end of the class from Chance and James as Logan outlined painfully clearly why each of them ended up where they did — and how much he expected them to improve, entirely pass fail.

* * *

James and Chance were still grinning after getting out of their last class together when a ball of white fluff came rocketing toward them out of nowhere — and Jolie took James to the ground.

"_Oof_. Hello to you too," James said as he finally hugged her back.

Jolie grinned at him, her tail swaying back and forth. "I missed you," she said. "Since you're not with the other kids anymore."

James looked over his shoulder at Chance and then smirked. "Well, I'm totally ditching you now. I obviously need to go hang out with my cooler friend."

"Obviously," Chance laughed, not even bothered, since he knew that Jolie practically worshipped the ground James walked on. "Have fun!"

And with that, the boys headed off in different directions — totally missing that the kids from earlier were glaring as they watched the whole reaction and were obviously plotting their revenge.


	4. How to Deal With Bullies

**Chapter 4: "How to Deal With Bullies"**

The first week of school continued to go by in the same vein as the first day. The little kids loved Annie, of course, and the older kids were getting used to seeing their parents and "aunts and uncles" in the school setting instead of the usual, lighter settings.

Charlie was doing surprisingly well. Even though she had been worried about the crowds, she was adjusting well — and making friends. Whitney, the girl with bright green eyes, was in most of her classes, and she had the rest with Gerry, who she liked sitting next to because he was almost always in a good mood.

James was excelling, of course — and even surprising a few of his teachers. Already, Scott had started to give him a little more than the level of math he usually taught for that age group. But in self-defense with Chance, the two of them were quickly becoming a force unto themselves, not just because they had been training since they were little but because they seemed to feed off of each other once one of them got started with a snarky comment. Chance didn't have nearly the same filter his dad did, so he was giving it back to James just as much as James was giving it to him — and their usual targets were the cocky boys from the first day of class.

It was quickly becoming their favorite class. And it was also quickly becoming the case that Brian and Casey _hated _James and Chance. They couldn't do much about it during class, because James and Chance were far ahead of their fighting level. But outside of class — and away from any inhibitors — was a different story.

The first time Casey tried to mess with James outside of class didn't go well for him. At all. Invulnerable or not, the guy could still feel pain, and as soon as he had tried to shove James around, he found himself in a _very _painful pin until James finally let him up, and Casey slinked away looking furious — and totally unable to do anything about it.

Brian had a little more luck with Chance, though, simply because he waited until he could catch Chance outside where there was open air. He grabbed the back of Chance's shirt and then rocketed into the air high enough that Chance didn't want to let go or risk a fatal fall.

"Not so tough without the dampening field," Brian laughed as he flew right out toward the lake and let go, dropping Chance into the water.

Chance made sure to angle himself well on the fall before he came back up and glared at Brian, who was already flying off and cackling. Chance shouted a few choice words before he started up the long swim back to shore. It wasn't far enough out that he couldn't make it, but it was a long swim all the same, so he was nice and tired and _mad _when he pulled himself onto the beach and lay there for a while, still steaming over the cheap shot.

"So, I think it's time you and I went 'camping' for a weekend," K said as she rode up on her horse and watched him, leaning on the saddle horn with her arms resting on it. "Want a ride back to the barn?"

Chance pushed himself up on his elbows and looked up at her. "I… sure, alright," he said before he climbed to his feet. "How — um — how long have you been here?"

"Long enough to know that your dad probably won't ever find out about this," K replied.

"Thanks," Chance said as he took the hand she offered him to climb up with her. "He's just sore because James and I can kick his butt nine ways to Sunday."

"Yeah, Logan was laughing about that," K told him. "But this little jerk … I'll explain when we hit the cabin. Telling your dad wouldn't do anyone any good. You need to take him down when he thinks he's got the advantage."

"I don't want my dad to fight my fights," Chance agreed quickly.

"He won't," K replied. "You'll fight them yourself, and you'll win."

"I've _been _winning. He just… sucker-punched me with the flying bit," Chance admitted. He looked even more annoyed as he added, "I was talking to Cheryl. From science?"

"That's all well and good, but … you're going to need to take on _our _family's outlook on the world if you really want to be a hero," K told him. "You have to always be ready. You have to always be expecting someone to sucker punch you, and be waiting to crack them in the mouth before they can do it."

Chance glanced at her with one eye shut. "I dunno," he said slowly. "Mom's always saying it's important to have a good heart as well as a good punch."

"It is," she agreed. "But that's for normal people that don't have people with powers or militairies — or private investors or whatever out to take them down." She looked at him over her shoulder. "You should have your big sister show you what Logan or I are thinking when we walk into an unfamiliar room full of people. It'd probably be eye opening."

He tipped his head to the side. "Alright. I'll ask her next time she comes to visit," he said. He paused. "What… about camping?" he asked slowly.

"We're going to the cabin, you and me," she said. "We'll be 'fishing'." she said, dropping the reins on the horses' neck to use air quotes properly.

"Okay, but what are we _actually _going to be doing?" he laughed.

"I'm going to teach you how to take down powered-up jerks that think they're superior."

"That's kind of why I've been taking karate and self-defense and all that," Chance pointed out.

"Yeah, no," K laughed. "That's all nice and structured and easy to predict if you know it yourself. I'm going to teach you how to take them out back by the trash cans."

He watched her for a long moment before he started to grin. "Alright," he said with a little nod. "I'm willing to learn anything, really."

"I didn't think you'd run into jerks this early," she admitted, "or I would have taught it to you sooner."

"Well, I've been dealing with jerks since Kindergarten," Chance pointed out.

"Yes, but these idiots are supposed to be training to be heroes," K pointed out. "Hard to do when you're acting like they are." She shook her head. "They are so going to fail your father's human-mutant relations class. _If _they last that long."

"Yeah, no kidding," Chance said with a little smirk.

"I don't think they have what it takes to go the distance," K told him quietly. "Between me and you, of course."

"Oh, yeah, of course," he said quickly, though he was grinning.

"I'll take care of your parents," K promised. "Might bring James if we need an extra body, unless you don't want him around."

"No, I like James," Chance said, the grin widening. "He has my back."

"You better believe it," K agreed as they came up to the barn. "You got enough of a rest to get up to the house now, right? Don't need to be seen with a teacher just yet."

"Yeah, thanks," he said, swinging his legs off as he waited for her to do the same before he darted in and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks again. If it had been someone like Kurt, I think my dad would've heard about it," he said quietly.

"Oh, he absolutely would have," K agreed. "But luckily, Logan and I agree on a lot — and we watch out for you guys." She tipped her chin toward the house. "I'll catch you later. Pack for three days."

"Yes ma'am," Chance said, still grinning before he rushed off to do just that.

K followed once she had the horse put away, and she walked in, past the kids that quit bragging suddenly on her appearance on her way to the kitchen where Scott and Annie were discussing how some of the smaller kids had handled school so far. She washed her hands in the sink, and as she poured herself a cup of coffee, she casually dropped it on the pair of them. "So I'm taking James and Chance up to the cabin for the weekend. Little fishing … maybe some hunting. Tis the season and all that."

"Have you talked to them about this?" Scott asked.

"Yep," K said, nodding. "They're looking forward to it, and the salmon are running, so should be a good weekend for it."

"Just the three of you?" Annie asked.

"I figured they could use the attention," K replied with a little shrug. "Unless you think they need more company?"

"No, no, I was just surprised you weren't bringing … more," Annie said with a little smirk down at the paperwork she and Scott were going over on the kids' schedules.

"Like who?" K asked, her chin propped on her hand.

"Oh, Elin at least," Annie said, the smirk widening.

"Well. I'll have to bring Logan…" she said. "I doubt he'd let me out of the house that far without him. But Elin wanted to overnight with Krissy, so it's the boys, mostly."

"As long as Chance is up for it," Scott said.

"And make sure they take their homework," Annie said.

"And as long as Logan is with you," Scott added with a pointed look at K's stomach.

"Yes, _Dad_," K said, rolling her eyes with her very best teenagerly tone. "I just need a break, and I wanted to soak up some time with sweet little boys, since apparently, Logan is only giving me traitorous girls."

Annie hid a laugh behind her hand and shook her head. "Have fun then," she said.

"We'll bring you back some fish," K promised.

"I feel like I should remind you not to eat any after you called my husband your father," Annie teased lightly.

"_Mo-om_," K said, dropping her shoulders and slumping away as best she could. "When are you going to learn to _trust me_?"

Annie laughed. "I'm trusting you to take my baby boy, aren't I?"

"Well yes. But not to avoid the fish," K teased.

Annie laughed and waved her off. "Do you need help packing?"

"No, I'll just tell Logan I'm craving time outside — he'll cover the rest."

"Yeah, that'd do it," Scott said with a smirk without looking up.

* * *

The little group piled into Logan's Jeep, and the boys were in great spirits knowing they were getting a weekend of advanced troublemaking classes. They headed north — but not nearly as far north as Chance had expected, stopping only a few hours away from the school upstate and tucked into the foothills.

The adults led the way, though James was already telling Chance about the trout stream not far from there and promising that Logan would take them out to do a little of that too. But once they were settled in and everyone had gotten comfortable, K sat down with the boys and started teaching them all sorts of viciously mean little tricks to deal with the mutant bullies.

Logan of course added to it — pressure points and quick dislocations — not once bringing up any names, though some of the moves were clearly perfect for the flying jerkwad and his invulnerable buddy.

"Any questions, or anything you want to learn?" K asked.

The boys glanced at each other before Chance slowly shook his head. "I think I got it. I just need to practice," he said, clearly working it out in his head.

"Some of it you don't," Logan pointed out. "Just remember them."

"No, I know. Just repeat them and memorize them," Chance said, still looking like he was working it out.

"And don't spread them around," Logan added before he paused. "Our girls — all of them — already know."

Chance glanced up at Logan. "Charlie too?" he asked, sounding halfway betrayed.

"Oh yeah," he said before he gave him a little smirk. "Even if you boys never got bugged by anyone, sad to say I can bet at least one of those girls will be."

"Not if I can help it," Chance said with his chin out. "I look out for my sisters."

"If I knew who would be the one with a target, I'd focus on her, but any one of 'em might need it," Logan told him. "And you can't be there to protect them all the time."

Chance let out a sigh. "I guess not. I just know Charlie hates this stuff. Fighting and this kind of thing."

"Yeah, but she also knows she might need it," K agreed.

"She knows to stay away from jerks," Chance said with a smirk. "She can 'hear' them a mile away."

K shook her head. "You're still young," K told him. "And even Charlie might miss one."

Chance shook his head at her. "Charlie's too smart for that," he told her before he got to his feet.

"It's not a matter of smart," K said with a little bit of a blush that rose up.

He glanced up at her with a little frown and tipped his head to the side before he nodded. "Can we still go fishing too?" he asked.

"Yes, please," K said, waving a hand. "Have some fun. You can do your homework tomorrow."

* * *

Charlie grinned over at her brother as they were sitting out on the lawn doing homework together. She was glad that they'd decided to start going to classes at the school together, because he seemed to love it — which made being around him even more fun than usual.

On the other hand, she knew about the creeps in his self-defense class. She'd overheard one of the kids talking about how things had gone at the lake. They seemed to think it was hilarious. But it hadn't gotten her brother down, and he didn't seem to be particularly bothered, so she wasn't going to say anything or let on that she knew. Especially when he seemed to be having a _blast_ otherwise.

He'd always been friendly with James because of karate, but the two of them were trouble together ever since that first self-defense lesson. She was glad, because she'd made a good friend with Whitney, and Gerry was making friends with pretty much _everybody_, so she wanted to make sure Chance was happy too.

She was working on her English homework while he was working on some math when she heard brassy overconfidence headed their way in the form of Brian, and she looked up with a glare when she saw the flying jerk headed their way, along with his mean sidekick.

"Chance," she said quietly, and he looked up at her and followed her gaze just in time to see it when Brian grabbed a handful of his shirt to take to the skies again.

It wasn't a sucker punch like before, and that helped, but it was K's training that Chance put to use when he turned and dislocated Brian's wrist before they could get too high. He grabbed Brian's arm while he was distracted and hurting, and Charlie had to smirk when the two boys hit the ground with Brian hitting first.

"Go ahead and try it," Chance said with a triumphant grin as Brian clutched his wrist to his chest.

Charlie couldn't stop the smirk as she watched Chance, though she could see Brian's friend headed over and frowned, stepping in front of him with her arms crossed. "You don't want to do that."

"I'm not scared of _him_," Casey sneered.

Charlie tipped her head to the side to consider him, then glanced over at her brother and shrugged. "Okay," she said before she turned back to him and planted her foot in his stomach. He let out his breath in a woosh, and she watched him for a second. "If you weren't invulnerable, that would have bruised something. And I'm not _nearly _as good at fighting as my brother is. You still wanna go?"

Casey looked between Charlie with her arms crossed, Brian with his broken wrist, and Chance looking like he was ready for round two. He took a step forward with a glare, but before he could start anything, someone cleared their throat nearby, and all four kids looked up to see that Billy had arrived, on a visit to Erik and Tommy.

"Okay. Whatever happened here, I'm pretty sure you don't want it to get any worse," Billy said, leaning against nothing with one foot kicked up behind the other.

Casey stared up at the dramatic-looking Avenger and held up both hands. "Hey. They're the ones that hit us."

"You're invulnerable, you big baby," Chance said, sticking his chin out at him. "And I'm gonna hit anybody that tries to pick me up without asking."

"He's got a point," Billy said as he walked over to where Brian was making a big deal out of his wrist with an adult around. It was hard to read Billy's expression with the galaxies in his eyes if you hadn't grown up around them — though Charlie and Chance knew from the extra glow that he was annoyed.

"He broke my wrist," Brian complained.

"Yeah, I noticed," Billy said calmly as he got the kid to his feet. He looked between the two older boys as Chance and Charlie watched carefully and then motioned Casey over. "Help me get him down to the medical lab," he told the boy, and Brian looked triumphant, clearly thinking he was going to get Chance in trouble.

"Did either of you get hurt?" Billy asked the Summers twins, who glanced at each other, shrugged, and shook their heads in tandem. "Alright. Come with me anyway," he said.

They group of them made their way down to the lab together, and though the kids couldn't tell from Billy's expression, he was in pure disbelief that _he _had somehow become the responsible adult. He felt like it was just yesterday that he was a Young Avenger getting dressed down by the Avengers for being too impetuous.

They got down to Hank's lab, but he didn't open the door at first, pausing with all four kids as he had a hand on both Brian's and Casey's shoulders. "Do you know what happens to kids with superiority complexes who don't know when to leave well enough alone?" he said in a perfectly even tone.

The boys glanced at each other. "We didn't do anything," Casey started to say before Billy cut him off with a look.

For a second, Billy's eyes glowed brighter, and both of the boys in his grasp looked suddenly very uncomfortable, though the Summers twins couldn't see what was going on. When Billy took his hand off their shoulders, both of the boys were quiet, and Billy smirked as he pushed open the door.

"What just happened?" Chance asked, not really expecting an answer.

"I don't know, but they're totally scared," Charlie replied in a low whisper as Billy steered Brian toward Hank.

"Imagine my surprise at seeing _you _four here," K said as the little group walked in. "What happened, my darling shooting star?" The kid she'd brought in with a stepped-on foot was fine — but bruised pretty spectacularly across the top of his foot in a perfect hoof print.

Billy smirked K's way as he pulled Brian toward a place to sit. "Apparently, Chance doesn't like being picked up by a flying kid with a complex," he said. "He broke this boy's wrist." He rested his hand on Brian's shoulder. "And both he and his friend have seen just what the X-Men do to upstarts if they keep grabbing people for no reason."

K turned toward the two boys and fixed them both with a hard look. "Have they found their tongues to apologize yet, or should I help them to find the right words?"

Brian and Casey glanced at each other and then both glared at the ground. "Sorry," Brian muttered at his shoes.

"Don't get in the habit of grabbing people," K said in a slightly easier tone. "Grab the wrong person and you won't get something _broken_ for it."

"It's just a joke," Brian muttered.

"It really is," she shot back. "If you think you'll pass anyone's sniff test to grow up and join a team for the good guys while you're picking on your peers, it's a real frikkin' joke."

Charlie snorted behind her hand, and Billy shot her a little smirk. "You're, what, thirteen?" Billy said, trying for a kinder tone. "You have time to get your act together. Which is good. You need plenty of it."

"This is what happens when they try to do too many things at once," K muttered, though it wasn't entirely clear who it was aimed at. "Chance, you should walk with me. Charlie, you too."

The twins glanced at each other and seemed to share a conversation before they nodded. "Okay," Charlie said quietly.

"Thank you, sparkling shooting star," K said as she passed Billy. "I've got these two, unless you want to be my chaperone."

"No, no. I was going to go see my brother. That's enough babysitting for one day," Billy teased.

"You're right. You don't have the power to put up with me." She popped up and kissed his cheek before leading the twins out. They were all the way to the garage before Charlie asked what was happening.

"We're not in trouble, are we? Because they really did start it," she said. "Chance was just defending himself."

"Gods, no," K scoffed. "I'm taking you out for shakes or ice cream or whatever. Chance did exactly what I taught him to do with creeps. You remember that lesson, don't you?"

This time, Chance was the one to answer for both of them. "She put her foot in Casey's gut. You can't tell because he doesn't bruise."

"See? You earned it." K gave them both a pleased sort of smirk. "So, pick the place."

They glanced at each other, and Charlie motioned for Chance to answer, so he nodded. "Shakes, please," he said with a crooked grin.

"Perfect," K agreed before she sent a quick text to Annie asking if she wanted anything while they were there.


	5. Even the Grown-Ups Are Having Fun

**Chapter 5: "Even the Grown-Ups Are Having Fun" **

And while things were going well for the kids themselves, the schools were starting to feel a little strain at the higher levels. The truth of the matter was that most of the mutants wanted to go to Westchester. They'd go to LA or Chicago or even Canada for a year or so before they would apply to the New York campus.

The X-Men were trying to be picky about who they let in, but they also wanted to give these kids the chance to do what they _wanted _to do. That was the whole point of the different schools: giving them a choice to have a hand in their own destinies. And at first, they were trying to give the kids their priority of choice.

But it had been a few years now, and it was becoming clear that this wasn't going to work. Westchester couldn't take everyone, but there were still plenty of kids who just wanted a normal school with Storm's or kids like Gerry who wanted to be doctors, astronauts, and so on who needed a fair shot with Kitty's.

The specialization worked. It was just the division of labor on the hero training that was giving them headaches.

Scott was going over the schedules for all of the kids in the school again that morning with a small headache already brewing. The kids here were so varied, and it was a juggling act trying to deal with all the different skill levels and training levels coming in, not to mention the normal classes and age ranges.

They'd been able to work it out for this semester, but already, he was looking at applications for the next one and trying to figure out how these kids who wanted so badly to make a difference could do that without getting to the point that the school was overcrowded — again.

So that's what he was working on when there was a knock at the door, and he called for whoever it was to come in without looking up.

"Got a minute, Slim?" Logan asked, six pack in hand.

Scott waved him in. "Sure. I could use a break, actually. What do you need?"

Logan came in and closed the door behind him then made his way over to set the beer down on Scott's desk. "Not sure you're up to it right now," Logan said. "All things considered."

Scott gave him a dry look. "Why don't you tell me what it is and I'll decide that."

Logan cracked open one of the cans and nodded. "Alright. I've been thinking about the kids trying to pull off a half-assed score in defense. And how I think we need to make it a little harder to get to that level."

"You want to make self-defense harder," Scott said with a dry smirk.

"I'd like to be able to teach it like I've always done," Logan countered. "But I can't do it when there's so many of 'em still terrified to throw a punch this far in. Even in the upper classes, there's maybe only one or two that should actually be there."

"You want to be more selective about the students we let in," Scott surmised. He leaned back and let out a sigh. "I agree, but we're also trying to give the students a chance to try — and fail if that's the case."

"I know," Logan said, nodding. "And I'm not against it … but I think…" He stopped for a long moment and watched Scott. "We're trying to do too much at a time."

Scott frowned at him for a long moment as he thought it over. "The problem is," he said slowly, "the other school that is focused on turning out heroes like we are is in Canada, and I'm not comfortable sending too many kids that way."

"The problem is: as many kids as there are that want to be heroes, we don't have the space, or the staff to _make _them into heroes. By the time these kids graduate and think they're ready to join up, they're not prepared because so much time is being spent covering basics. How long do they have to train and play second string on the junior squad before they can even go first string there, let alone even consider senior?"

Scott nodded. "I've talked to Storm and Kitty both about making sure the kids have more training at their schools before they apply, try to slow down the tide."

"Which is great for the ones that transfer over," Logan agreed. "But it doesn't do a thing for the ones that walk in from the get go here with it in their mind they can do the job just because they can shoot rainbows or whatever."

"The team does most of the pickups," Scott said. "And for as much as this school is about training kids to fight, it's also about the kids that _can't _go anywhere else, that need the extra protection. That's why we do the pickups."

"I'm not arguin' that," Logan replied. "Not even a little. I got the dream tattooed on the inside of my skull, believe me. I get it. But I think we need to play down the 'anyone can do it' angle."

Scott thought it over for a long moment. "If we're more selective about who gets in," he said slowly, "we need to give the kids a chance — _any _of them — to learn and train elsewhere. One of the schools. Or a different campus. But I don't want any of them to feel like they didn't get the chance to at least try."

"I'd like to see 'em have to pass Storm's test before they come to me," Logan said frankly.

"Or Kitty's defense class," Scott said with a small smirk as he thought it over.

"There's no reason to teach upper level self defense or _combat _to anyone who hasn't earned it. I do _not _want to end up cranking out future super villains."

Scott nodded. "We need a middle ground," he said. "Something between the 'normal' Storm wants to give anyone who wants it and the X-Men."

"Exactly," Logan agreed. He pushed a can toward Scott. "It's the weekend. Try to relax a little. You might just get creative."

Scott smirked has way as he took the can. "We'll see," he said. "How are the kids, by the way?"

"Which ones?" Logan asked.

"The ones that grew up in this," Scott said. "Charlie, Chance, James, Gerry — we've never had second-generation before, outside of possibly Erik's kids."

"They're way ahead of the curve," Logan replied. "Chance and James have already had to be told to back off from correcting their classmates on form."

"Yeah, I heard about that," Scott said with a smirk. He leaned back and let out a sigh. "It's things like that — I'm not going to impose an age cutoff if we do start getting selective. Kitty and Jubilee were in this when they were young. There are kids who can hack it at any age."

"But they were always the exception to the rule anyhow," Logan pointed out. "And mine."

"This school is supposed to be about the exceptions to the rules," Scott said. "The kids that can really shine and make a difference in the world."

"Then you might need to have a mandatory talk on ethics." He paused and made a point to really give Scott his full attention. "_You_. Not me. Ever."

Scott raised both eyebrows at that and leaned slightly forward. "Alright," he said slowly. "I can schedule one at the beginning of every semester for all the kids, catch any newcomers that way." He paused. "Are you having any trouble with the kids? All of them, not just the ones that grew up in it."

"Nah," Logan said, shaking his head. "Just dealin' with a lot of dreamers that are quickly seein' they don't have what it takes." He shrugged. "Tender little broken hearts that can't believe how _hard _it is. Musta thought the snippets on the news was all that ever happened."

"Hopefully, that will get easier as we get more selective. If they can't hack it at the other schools, no reason to get the harder comedown here."

Logan gave him a dry look. "I'm not even comin' close to junior team levels of work, Slim. I'm playin' softball."

"I'll work on it," Scott promised. "I want these kids ready to face whatever comes their way if they decide to join the team. We just need to do a little reworking." He rubbed a hand over his face. "It doesn't help that we're getting international applicants. There's more than we realized."

"We always did," Logan pointed out.

"Yes, but we're processing them here first," Scott said. "We need something else."

Logan paused and worked his jaw for a moment. "In related news … I know you're wary of Mac. But he's not the trouble. You know that, right?"

"I know." Scott let out a breath. "We talked this summer. I know he's not happy with everything going on up there. But just because he's a decent person doesn't mean I'm too comfortable with the school. I know you went after the people looking into the kids up there, but I want to wait and see if there is retaliation, fallout, before I get too comfortable."

Logan had set his beer down and rested his hands on his crossed leg. "If … _if _I went back for one of his fireside chats or whatever, I could place some bugs. Put a tap on their system…"

Scott frowned and watched Logan for a moment. "_Only _if you know you're coming back without whatever it was that went down last time."

"I'd rather go with you, honestly," Logan replied. "Kinda squash any rumors right off."

"Not K?" Scott couldn't help but smirk.

"Definitely not when she's pregnant," Logan answered. "Afterward … when you could send a picture of the baby going 'look who's waiting' so she could shred through idiots in the way … maybe."

Scott let out a breath of a laugh. "Alright. Next time we have something scheduled up there, we'll go," he said. "I'd feel better about it anyway, honestly. I _want _to be able to send kids to whatever school they want."

"I'm not looking at it as spying on Mac as much as I'm looking at it as makin' sure those kids are safe too," Logan said.

"I know." Scott nodded. "Which is why I'm agreeing to it."

Logan looked clearly uncomfortable as he thought it over. "It's just that the longer crap like this goes on ... and for as quiet as they've been …" He shook his head. "I know I'm paranoid. But this isn't that."

"I don't think it is either," Scott said. "I've already had words with Mac. You know I wouldn't sign off on anything I thought was a waste of resources, either."

"Yeah, I know," Logan agreed.

"If you're not comfortable with it, I can talk to Kitty," Scott said.

"They'd be watching Kitty. They've never been able to watch me all the time," Logan pointed out.

"Alright." Scott took in a deep breath before he nodded. "Anything else?"

"Nah, just thought I'd split a six pack with you."

Scott smirked at that. "Alright," he said again.

* * *

October came with an early chill as the leaves turned, but despite the windchill that week, the weather was otherwise lovely for the small gathered group that weekend.

It was nothing like Peter's wedding to Sara, with nearly every hero ever coming to the party. Instead, it was small, just family members, with Kurt to officiate.

By that time, both Tommy and Peter had calmed down about the whole thing, though it certainly helped that Lorna had arrived with her family a few days prior to the ceremony looking absolutely pleased as punch to see her father happy. And it also definitely helped that Billy's twins were simply adorable with both of Lorna and Alex's kids. Since the little ones were still so young, May and Erik had worked it out with the four kids that they would all be involved, both Sammy and Magda happily carrying baskets full of flowers, while Michael got to hold May's ring and Harry held Erik's.

Billy grinned as he sat next to Lorna, watching Michael and Harry whispering together over their shared duties. "The twins have been talking about this all week," he told her. "Sammy's been practicing with Sadie."

Lorna smiled at that. "I'm sure they were a sight to see."

"Yeah… Harry follows them around."

"Of course he does," Alex said with a little grin. "Smart kid."

Lorna shook her head at him and rolled her eyes as they turned their attention to the quiet ceremony out on the mansion lawn. Again, it wasn't elaborate, just a few simple vows, before Erik and May shared a gentle kiss and Magda burst into giggles.

But while the ceremony was quiet and private, with the Parkers, the Kaplans, and the Summers clan all together, there was of course a party inside where it was warmer, complete with hot chocolate for the kids to warm up after doing their wedding duties.

There was dancing, of course, though the newlyweds were the real sight to see as both of them had simply started to spin to the old music and didn't pay attention to anything else. At all.

But as for the rest of the family, there was so, so much room for teasing.

Tommy zipped over to where Peter was to throw an arm around his shoulders, and Billy, taking his brother's lead, threw his arm around Peter from the other side.

"So," Tommy said with a wide grin.

"Hello," Peter replied. "Um … yes."

"Welcome to the family," Billy said, grinning just as widely as Tommy was. With the two of them in tandem like that, they really did look like twins despite the differences in eyes and hair.

"You two are a little bit scary — you know that?" Peter said.

"What?" Tommy said, grinning wider. "It's not threatening to be welcoming — what are we, Billy? Cousins?"

"In-laws," Billy corrected.

"Right. Cousins-in-law," Tommy said, nodding along.

"Wait … no. That's not … wait," Peter said, frowning deeply out of nowhere.

"Well, there's a once-removed. Or second-cousining. Or something." Tommy grinned. "Still. Welcome to the family. We're all so screwed up."

"That really isn't very reassuring," Peter pointed out before he very suddenly — and with a lot more strength than the boys had expected — pulled them both into a one-armed bear hug.

"I think we've been welcomed into the Parker clan," Tommy laughed.

"Probably more stable," Billy teased.

"Aunt May says you're alright, and frankly … we do _not _argue with Aunt May. You should ask your Grandpa about that," Peter told them.

"No, never," both of the Lensherr twins agreed at the same time.

"I mean, she can keep up with Erik," Tommy pointed out.

"Like, _keep up with _is an understatement," Billy added. "Have you seen her lay down the law?"

"She does that with anyone who needs it," Peter said. "She put Logan's cigar out in his drink once. It was beautiful."

"The twins love her," Billy said. "She spoils them rotten."

"Oh yeah. And tells _me_ to stop acting like them," Tommy smirked. With that, the twins returned Peter's bear hug with one of their own.

As the family was making themselves friendly, James made his way over to where Lorna and Alex were with a little smirk in place as he looked for Magda. When he found her, he gave her a bright grin. "Do you want to dance?" he asked.

Magda smiled lightly at him. "Alright," she said.

"I promise I won't step on your toes," he swore.

"That's alright if you do. I have fun shoes," she said with a shy smile, pointing down at her little black shoes.

When she got closer, he offered her his hand. "I won't _ever _step on your fun shoes."

She giggled and took his hand and let him take her out to go dancing. She didn't know how to do more than a simple spin in place, and she was sure to apologize for it. "I like swimming. And surfing. I don't really…"

"I haven't tried surfing yet, but I do like to swim," James said. "But dancing? It's easy. Here ... " He started to take her through it, smiling the whole way until she was doing a reasonable little dance that was a step or two above the box step many on the floor were using.

Magda was watching her feet and letting James lead before she looked up at James, grinned, and gave him a little kiss. "This is fun."

He smiled a little wider at her. "Maybe I should show you how to spin."

"Okay," she said, grinning at him, completely oblivious to the look on her father's face further out from where they were — Alex clearly hadn't been expecting his shy little girl to do anything like that. For a long time. Or ever.

She also didn't notice Scott smirking at his brother and putting a hand on his shoulder to say something that clearly was not reassuring at all — and Alex halfway shoved his brother back a step for it.

But she did notice when May and Erik made their way a bit closer, and Erik gave them both a smile. "Do you mind, very much, if I cut in?" he asked, holding out a hand to Magda.

"Okay, if I can dance with Aunt May," James grinned.

May laughed and nodded, leaving Erik to lead his granddaughter out to a very sweet and quiet dance. She made sure to give him a big hug and kiss his cheek when the song was through and then insisted that he should dance with her mom, too, which was another matter of sweet and quiet dancing and being about as happy as anyone there had seen Erik in their lives.

Lorna had just kissed her father's forehead when she felt a little tug on her dress hem, and Sammy looked up at both of them. "Me too?"

Erik beamed at her. "Of course," he said, though he had to pick her up to dance properly, spinning to the old music as the other members of the small but steadily growing family watched.

"Do you mind sharing, Sammy?" May asked with a little twinkle in her eye when the song was through, and the little girl giggled and shook her head.

"No. You can dance," she said, grinning up at them as Erik set her down before she rushed off and ended up dancing with little Kaleb — who was perfecting his deep, wide, showman's bow before asking every single girl his age (and older) to dance.

It wasn't long after that before the dancing started to come to a close, and the kids and adults started to break off and head inside. Sadie was sure to give Harry a kiss — full on the mouth — before she turned around and rushed back to her family, grinning all the way and setting a trend as most of the kids that had been dancing stole a kiss one way or another before parting company.

"I feel like we could have maybe stopped this train a few years ago before we taught them all so… well," Kate teased K as she caught up to her, with Kade asleep on her shoulder and perfectly, contentedly curled up.

"I don't know what you're talking about," K said before she pulled Logan over for a kiss.

"It's a mystery," Kate agreed, grinning before she waved at them both, headed off with her own family — and laughed when she saw Kaleb watching his dad when Kurt swept her up and kissed her hand. "Definitely learning by example," she muttered before kissing Kurt right back.


	6. The Summers School of Flirting

**Chapter 6: "The Summers School of Flirting"**

Charlie was still in a good mood after the wedding. It had been a good solid blast of happiness and warmth. Erik was just so… _happy_, and she loved being around him and May together.

She was still smiling to herself as she got to her history class — and smiling even more when the class got back their history essays. She had worked hard on hers, and her grade reflected it, so she was pretty pleased with herself in general. She liked history class; it was a lot like literature, but with real stories instead of made up ones. And sometimes, those stories were more interesting than the ones that were made up.

But while Charlie was focused entirely on writing her notes and enjoying the leftover high of the wedding, she was completely oblivious to the black-haired boy sitting a seat behind her and not paying attention to the lesson in the least, far more interested in watching her than listening to Logan.

It wasn't entirely her fault. The whole school was full of teens and preteens with raging hormones, so it wasn't like it was unusual for her to 'hear' the sort of frenetic melody of someone with a crush. And for as good as she was at reading people, she couldn't tell _where _the crush was directed unless she was paying enough attention to know that, for example, every time Elin walked in the room, Chance's frenetic crush melody started playing.

Not to mention the fact that she didn't know the boy well enough to recognize his emotional "song". So she was aware of the fact that at least one of the kids in the class had a crush on _someone_, but seeing as there were plenty of kids and plenty of hormones, it hadn't even pinged her radar.

But that didn't mean that no one had noticed.

Logan had to shake his head when he saw the kid sitting behind Charlie. His name was Paul, and he'd just come to the school recently from one of Scott's rescue runs. And since the day he got there, he had been spending all his time in Logan's class with his chin literally in his hands watching Charlie.

And the girl was just. So. Oblivious.

For someone who had empathic abilities, Charlie was completely missing what was right in front of her face — or right behind her in class.

Logan wasn't going to do anything about it — though he was going to move Paul to a different seat so he'd actually learn something — but he still couldn't quite believe that the girl that could read _him _like a book could miss something so obvious. Paul practically had heart eyes every time he sat down.

But after weeks of staring at Charlie, it looked like the kid was finally at least going to talk to her, and Logan made it a point not to interfere as Paul tapped Charlie on the shoulder on the way out to their next class.

"Oh, hi," Charlie said, smiling politely the same way she smiled at everyone she met.

"Hi," Paul said. The twelve-year-old little boy had turned suddenly pink around the edges before he swallowed. "I'm — I'm Paul."

"I'm Charlie," she said, still smiling sweetly.

"Yeah I know. I mean. I've heard … on the roll …"

Charlie tipped her head to the side and reached out to touch his arm with an encouraging smile. "It's okay," she said. "I don't know why you're so nervous. I don't bite." She giggled. "My brother's the one who's good at fighting."

"Oh." Paul looked nervous all over again, and Charlie frowned, her lips slightly pushed out as she tried to figure out what was going on with him.

She usually had her powers on low, but when she turned them up a bit and focused on the boy in front of her, she could hear the frenetic song that meant he had a crush. And considering he was standing right in front of her with bright pink cheeks and a clearly tied tongue…

She flushed pink as well when she figured it out. She had never felt anyone having a crush on her before, and she didn't know what to do about that. "I, um, are you … how do you like school here?"

"Umm. I like it okay," Paul said, kicking the ground a bit with his foot. "I'm not doing really well in history, though."

"How come?"

"I…" Paul shrugged. "I dunno."

"Well, I like history," Charlie told him, starting to gain a little more confidence. He was just so nervous that she couldn't help but try to reassure him and talk to him a little more.

"I like history too," Paul admitted. "I just… I guess I don't pay very good attention in class."

"Oh." Charlie blushed when she saw how red Paul was. "Okay."

"You get good grades in history, though," Paul said.

She flushed with pleasure. "I do." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Maybe you just need help with taking notes? I can show you mine."

Paul nodded quickly. "Okay. Yes please."

She grinned. "Alright. My last class is math."

"With your dad?" She nodded as he seemed to get nervous before he nodded a little bit. "Okay. I… maybe we can do some homework by the fireplace?"

"Okay," she agreed before she headed off down the hall toward her science class, while he headed to self-defense with a little skip to his step.

* * *

"I'm not so sure how I feel about this," Chance said, eyeing the two kids across the living room from him. Charlie had been sitting with this Paul kid for the past half an hour going over their history notes, and he really, _really _wasn't sure he liked it.

"You're just being dramatic," Krissy told him with a little smile. She was doing her own homework from her homeschooling with Annie, but she preferred to be where the older kids were, hanging out with Chance, Charlie, James, Elin, Gerry — everybody.

"No, I'm not."

"Yes, you are," Krissy said patiently. "You talk to girls all the time. How come Charlie can't talk to boys?"

"That's not—"

"You're being dramatic," Krissy told him again, with a tone of finality to it that was hard to argue with before she glanced up at him. "_We're _doing homework together, and Charlie's not making the same face you are."

"That's different."

"Is not."

"Yeah, it is. We've known each other for _ages_."

Krissy wrinkled up her nose at him and then sniffed. "If you say so," she said, shaking her head at him.

"And we're not doing homework together like _that_," Chance continued.

"There's a different way to do homework together?" Krissy asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Well, yeah."

"Okay." She tipped her head to the side and looked from Chance to Charlie. "If you're worried they're _flirting_, then just say so. But you do it all the time, so I still think you're being dramatic."

"He's being a boy," Elin said as she passed them by. "They don't like it when girls flirt with anyone but them."

"And sisters are off-limits," James said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"That doesn't make _any _sense," Krissy said, matching his matter-of-fact tone. "Because if you flirt with someone's sister, then... "

"You're not a boy," Elin said. "Don't try to figure it out. Just ignore them."

"Yeah, it's gonna give me a headache," Krissy agreed.

Chance shook his head. "I just don't—"

"Want your sister kissing Paul?" James asked.

Chance made a face. "They're not _kissing_."

"Yet." James was smirking to himself, but he wasn't pushing.

Krissy started to giggle at that. "Charlie and Pa-ul sitting in a tree," she sang under her breath.

"He'll feel better about it once he's kissing someone himself," Elin said. "Forget all about what Charlie's up to. And since he doesn't want to kiss anyone here, he can worry about Charlie."

Chance flushed pink as he shook his head. "That's not true."

"Which part?" Krissy giggled, her tail swishing lazily behind her as she grinned over at Elin.

"The… all of…" He rubbed the back of his neck.

James turned to watch Chance, his chin in his hand. "I'll hit you if you kiss me."

Chance burst into a laugh. "No way," he said. "That would be weird."

"I'd never speak to you again," James continued, purely to shake his head at how relieved Chance looked at the misdirect.

"Which is too bad, because then who would teach losers a lesson with me?" Chance laughed.

"Pretty much anyone in the karate class," James muttered.

Chance shook his head at that as he went back to working on the science question sheet in front of him.

Elin leaned toward Chance and let her voice go very quiet. "I don't … think she knows what to do with him. She's just being nice, even if he does have a huge crush."

Chance glanced up at Elin and nodded quietly. "She's nice to everybody. That's just how my sister is." He paused and grinned crookedly. "Except jerks. Those she kicks in the gut."

"I was just trying to say I was just picking," Elin said before she went back to her handwriting — working on her kanji with Sadie.

Chance watched Elin for a second and let out a breath before he went back to his own homework, because he didn't want to tell Elin that he _wasn't _kidding.

* * *

The kids at school had a fall break part way through October, so that was the perfect time for Scott to fly out to England to talk to Betsy.

She and Scott had been talking back and forth through emails and phone conversations on the possibility of a more international school across the Atlantic — something that, as Scott and Logan had talked about, would be a "middle ground." It would provide kids that wanted to show their mettle a chance to train if they wanted to make the team, so that the Westchester school could focus only on the kids that made the cut — or that needed the extra protection, in some cases.

When Scott got out there, Betsy met him at the plane, and the two of them were already chatting easily as they headed back to her building.

"I'm sure if we can find a good place, we can open in a year or two," Scott told Betsy as they walked together. "Three years if it takes us a while to get the legal documentation and permits."

"Do you have any ideas about location?" Betsy asked. "Normally I'd suggest London — make it simple — but honestly, there's been a lot of discord. It might be easier, all things considered, to either put it somewhere almost unreachable instead."

Scott nodded. "Yeah, that seems to be the case in most areas, honestly." He let out a breath. "The more kids with mutations, the more people panic. It's a good thing to see the population grow the way it's supposed to, but of course it's got kickback to it."

"Do you have a preference? On location, of course. I'm sure the Worthington Foundation would be pleased to put up something groundbreaking."

He smiled at that. "I'm sure," he agreed. "Honestly, it might not be a bad idea to look at someplace … well. What would you think about Muir Island?" he asked. "You're the one who'd be running things."

"Would Moira be on board for that?" Betsy asked.

"I wouldn't bring it up if I hadn't asked," Scott told her. "She seemed to like the idea, anyway."

Betsy smiled and nodded her head. "Limited access without either a helicopter or seaworthy boat … sensors already in place to spot anyone incoming from ten miles out … yes. I think that would work for our needs."

He grinned at that. "I'll leave the final details to you, but if you need anything…"

"You know, Scott," Betsy said, tipping her head to the side, "if this works out the way you're hoping … it would be a good place for the children that need protection as well. Isolated, no prying eyes …"

Scott paused to think about it. "You're not wrong," he said slowly, then shook his head. "It's just that the institute has always been _the _safe haven. It's hard to think of it as anything else."

"And it will stay that way, I'm sure," she agreed. "At least initially, until they're ready to move on."

Scott nodded at that, still thinking it over. "We'll see how this goes. If it works out as well as we think it will, I'm sure we'll be able to adjust accordingly." He turned toward Betsy. "But honestly, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask."

"Thank you, Scott," Betsy said, shrugging her shoulders up to her ears. "I'll get in touch with Moira … start greasing the right wheels …"

"I'll make sure to talk to a few of our old friends, too. Paige already said she'd love to help out."

"Wonderful," she agreed. "I know there are a few old Excalibur members that wouldn't mind finding something to do that was useful."

"Piotr would love to live and work a little closer to home too," Scott said with a smirk. "Or so he said last time we talked."

"Send him my number," she said with a little smile. "I'll put him to work."

* * *

Even with all the classes that Charlie was taking now, she still wanted to make the time to meditate with Logan. It was getting colder out, so they didn't go to the docks, but they did find a good spot at the barn that was relatively quiet so they could practice meditation.

She was good enough at it by that point that she didn't need to "follow" Logan, though she almost couldn't help but brush his mind and feelings when she started, just because it was such a release of all the flurry of the day when she started to focus her mind, and he happened to be in the way of that release of energy.

Usually, that meant she'd pick up on how annoyed he was from being around all those people too — scents, not emotions like she had to deal with, at least not the _way _she had to deal with — but today, he was highly amused, and she didn't know why.

"Okay," she said, peeking one eye open. "What's so funny?"

"What are you talking about?" Logan asked, though he didn't open his eyes.

"You think something's funny. It's a good question."

"Oh. Nothin' special," he replied, though the smile was evident in his voice.

"_Please_?" She peeked both eyes open and did her best pout. "Come on. I won't tell."

He smirked crookedly and finally let out his breath to look at her properly. "Just thinkin' about how interesting it is that your little friend Paul's doing so much better in my class suddenly."

Charlie's eyes widened for a second before she flushed pink and looked quickly down at her hands. "I… we go over our notes together," she mumbled.

"Uh-huh," he replied.

"I don't _like _him," Charlie said. "I mean… I don't think I do. I've checked. A couple times."

"Oh, did you now?" he chuckled.

"Well, Krissy said sometimes it takes a while to get a crush on someone…"

"I don't wanna know. That's something that's gotta cross a line or somethin'."

Charlie laughed and looked down at her hands again. "Yeah. Dad said to leave it alone when it comes to crushes and stuff. Or I'll get a headache."

But that just got Logan laughing, considering her main sources of advice.

"It's _true_," Charlie defended. "The first couple weeks were really hard with everyone having new friends and new crushes, and Dad said if I get caught up in other people and _especially _in dating, I'll just … get twisted up."

"He's not wrong," Logan said, trying not to laugh at the situation at hand.

"So… I didn't tell Gerry that the girl he likes in science class doesn't have a crush on him," Charlie said.

"And you shouldn't," Logan agreed. "He'll figure it out or change her mind. One or the other. Unless he just … gets over it."

"Yeah." She let out her breath. "It's really hard not to tell people to stop being so dumb, though," she said, glancing up at Logan. "There were these two older kids outside after school, and they kept _staring _at each other. And I just…" She blew out her breath in frustration and let the sentence hang.

"They gotta get there on their own," he told her.

"Yeah, that's what Mom said," Charlie agreed. "I guess I'm just not very patient."

"Genetic."

She grinned up at him and shoved him in the shoulder. "Well, how do you do it?" she asked. "You're a lot like me, with scents with emotions… How do you ignore it?"

"You just do," he said with a shrug. "I cheat sometimes. That's what the cigars are for. Strong enough scent blows everything else out."

"Yeah, I don't think my dad would let me smoke a cigar, even if I said it was for ignoring stupid," Charlie giggled.

"Find something when it gets to be too much. No idea what."

"It's just harder when it's my friends," Charlie said with a sigh. "I don't think Cheryl likes Chance either."

"If it's them, just smack 'em upside the head," Logan said with a shrug. "But … if we're gonna keep talking about this crap, I'm gonna take a nap instead of meditating."

Charlie grinned at him. "Teenagers wear you out, huh?" she teased.

"Always the same drama. And there aren't even any ninjas."

"Well, I can't promise ninjas, but I won't talk about dating anymore," she promised. She paused and grinned. "Besides, Dad says I'm _way _too young to date anybody."

"That's right," Logan said with a smirk, letting her believe that for a little while longer, anyway.


	7. International Relations

**Chapter 7: "International Relations"**

As November rolled around, so did an invitation for Scott to come up to the Canadian school and talk to the kids again. It had been a while since he'd done that, so most of the kids there hadn't been around last time, Heather pointed out in her email. So clearly, she said, it was time for another visit.

And considering their most recent conversation on how things were going up north, Scott made it a point to drop by Logan's classroom after school was out and tell him about the invite — and ask him to come as well.

"Does he know I'm comin'?" Logan asked as he tossed down the last of his papers.

"I just told him I'd be coming up with another staff member," Scott said with a smirk.

"Good," Logan replied. "Guard'll be down that way."

"I think he thinks I meant Annie, to be honest," Scott said. "At least, that's how Heather took it."

"Then she'll be disappointed," he said with a nod.

"That you didn't bring the kids? Oh yeah," Scott said, still smirking to himself as he hit the hallway.

"When are we leavin'?" Logan called out. "And for how long?"

"Tomorrow morning — three days," Scott said. "That enough time for you to do what you need?"

"Hell, I can do what I need to in the first hour or so," Logan pointed out. "Before they realize I'm there."

"Then the rest of the time you're going to be stuck listening to me make the heroics pitch to kids. Sorry about your luck."

"Like hell. I'll just go grab a case of whiskey while I'm in town."

Scott chuckled at that as he waved over his shoulder. "See you at the hangar. Eight o'clock."

* * *

When they got to Canada the next morning, Logan took no time at all to flat disappear in order to set the bugs and get into the places he needed to check up on what the school was getting up to since he'd killed a few former Department heads nosing in on the place.

Which meant that Scott arrived at the school alone — and was greeted by Heather accordingly as she looked positively crestfallen.

"I thought you were bringing someone along."

"It's a three-day trip," Scott said with a shrug. "We're not spending it all at the school. There's some business in town."

"Oh … alright then," Heather said with a frown. "Who did you bring then? Or is Annie looking into a cottage? Because I have suggestions."

"Annie doesn't want to move any further north than we are now," Scott laughed. "She hated being in Alaska."

"Yeah, but summertime? Come on; the fishing's great," Heather laughed. "The mosquitoes will carry you off ... "

"Don't have to tell me. I grew up in Anchorage, remember?" he said with a smirk. "I'm just telling you: Annie's not your best bet for a move anything but further south. Though I'm sure she has suggestions if that's the direction you want to move."

"I would absolutely listen to her," Heather replied with a grin. "If only that far south wasn't murder on my freckles."

Scott shrugged openly, both palms outturned. "Then I don't know what to tell you, Heather — sounds like you'll just have to settle for coming down for combined school activities if neither of you can change cardinal directions."

"You're something else, you know that?" she said with a laugh as she led the way. "So do you know what you're going to say to them?"

Scott nodded. "The same as last time, though I'll focus a little more on the ethics side of things." He held up a hand. "Not just here. We're trying to make sure these kids are trained _and _good or we'll end up raising up the next Brotherhood or something."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure there's enough trouble without adding in fanatics," Heather agreed.

"Even just one or two kids causing trouble could be enough to get people claiming we're training up terrorists — again," Scott said, shaking his head.

"Whenever you're ready, you tell me when you want to do your talk. The kids are going to be worthless in class until you're done anyhow."

Scott shook his head. "I'm sure that's not true, but alright — whenever you have the lecture hall ready, I've already got it written out."

"It's ready whenever," she promised.

"Then I'll follow you." He smirked. "Probably better that way anyway. Get the lecture out of the way so you can visit."

"That sounds promising … did you want some coffee first?" she teased.

"Let's grab some on the way," he said. "Already had some this morning before we flew out."

She smiled his way and the two of them headed out. "Are you sure your partner will know where to go?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," he said with a nod.

"Not gonna tell me, are you?"

Scott smirked her way. "No."

"Is there a reason?" she asked. "Because I won't tell …"

The smirk widened at that. "Sorry, Heather."

"You're a tease, Cyclops," she laughed. "But if it ends up being Jean-Paul, I'll warn you right now: I'm putting ice down the back of that uniform."

Scott laughed and held up both hands. "Jean-Paul isn't on the staff at Westchester," he pointed out.

"True. But … he was just through a few weeks ago, and he was talking about teaching again. I figured he'd head your way."

"Oh, no," Scott said, shaking his head. "Not at Westchester."

"That's too bad; he liked it there," she replied as they picked up their coffee and headed to the school. "Do you want to text Mac or should I?"

"Be my guest," he said.

Heather shook her head and pulled out her phone. "You really are in fine form."

"It's been a good week. And hey, Chance is acing his classes, Charlie's got top marks… I'm entitled."

She watched him for a moment, and when her phone buzzed, she nodded her head. "We have time. He'll gather everyone up. Take your time with the coffee and I'll give you a tour in the meantime." She looked at him over her cup. "Sure you don't need to tell your teacher where to meet you?"

"Nah, we have it covered," Scott said, tapping his comm with a smirk as he sat back and let Heather lead the way, showing off the improvements the school had made in the past years.

* * *

While Scott was enjoying himself with Heather and Mac was rushing to get the kids gathered, Logan was zipping through the offices of the government building next door to the school, setting bugs and tapping into the hardware, relaying the codes to Kitty as he did so. It wasn't hard … and security barely even pinged until after he was already across the street and into the school when Mac started gathering up kids.

It was just that much more entertaining that they thought they had another twenty minutes before the X-Men were in the building to worry about security. So as soon as Mac stepped out of his office, Logan slipped in and hit his computer first, all while Kitty was giggling madly at him in his ear, joking about putting a new lock from the next quadrant over on her diary — just in case.

But it was apparent once Scott got in the building that the whole feel of the place shifted. The offices got busier, and security monitors began to light up left and right all up and down the halls. In light of that, Logan made sure to flip off the comm link with Kitty, who was suddenly a lot quieter than she had been with all the giggles and jokes on how paranoid Logan was getting in his old age.

Paranoid or not, the fact was security peaked very suddenly, and getting back out of the more secured area of the school to where the teachers and kids — and Scott — were gathered was going to take a little more time than it had taken getting in there. And he planned to do it entirely off-camera.

By the time Logan arrived, Scott was partway through the lecture already, outlining to the kids just how much of a difference one person could make — for good or for bad.

"One person on a team can make all the difference in a mission. I've seen fights that were decided by one good teammate and nothing more. But one person on the other side of it can destroy all that work as well," Scott was saying.

Logan stepped into the hall, looked around to see where the staff were all located, and very quietly made his way over to stand just behind and next to Mac, his arms crossed as he looked up toward Scott and pulled a cigar out of his belt to chew on, but not light it. Yet.

It was clear Scott saw him because he started to smirk, but he didn't stop the lecture, either, outlining how important it was that the kids there used their training to make a difference, to keep from ruining the experience for their classmates — because one bad news story could sometimes be all it took, and they were still walking a delicate line as the first generation of mutants at their school.

"We're held to a higher standard of behavior — _especially _those of us that are lucky enough to be trained and be on teams like the X-Men. Who you are is just as important as what you can do."

Logan shifted where he was standing to lean against the wall, sure to keep his poker face when still no one in the Canadian school saw him — in spite of the bright yellow uniform. When he caught Scott's eye, he just shrugged one shoulder lazily and kept right on listening to the speech.

"The truth of the matter is: right now, people are always going to be watching you. The things you do reflect on the school and, as much as we wish it wasn't the case, they reflect on mutantkind as a whole. We've come a long way — this school is proof of that. And one day, it won't make a difference what genes you were born with. But until that happens, you guys are holding us on your shoulders. Your actions determine the future of your generation. You're powerful. You're working hard. All of that is part of what makes a hero. But if you don't have your feet on the right path, that doesn't mean a thing." Scott looked over the group for a moment and took a breath. "You guys know what's right. You know what makes a hero. I'm just asking you to live it every day, not just when you wear the uniform." He paused and seemed to straighten a bit. "So I guess that's up to you to keep them honest, right, Guardian?"

But Mac didn't really get much of a chance to say anything as the murmur rose up in the crowd as they followed Scott's gaze to Mac and beyond him to Logan. But Mac still didn't know that Logan was there, and he frowned, looking to see what the distraction was.

"You might want to get your eyes checked before you try to keep anyone honest, Mac," Logan muttered finally when Mac stared his way. "I'm head-to-toe yellow for christ-sakes. How do you miss that?"

Mac did a double take again and turned to Scott with an honest grin. "You could have said you were bringing trouble with you!"

Scott laughed lightly and held up both hands. "And miss the surprise?"

Mac laughed outright and grabbed a hold of Logan — about two seconds before Heather made it there.

"You're supposed to rally your troops, Hudson. Go on. Try and follow that act," Logan told him as Heather squeezed him. But Mac was clearly taken entirely back — not only by the super sneaky yellow entrance but the fact that every student in the building had listened intently to every word Scott had said. This was really just like the fireworks.

"Yeah, I got nothin'," Mac said finally and gestured up to Scott. "Pretty sure you said it all."

"Yeah, well, helps when I came with prepared notes," Scott said with a smirk.

When Heather finally let up on Logan and quit looking so clearly irritated, Logan made his way up to Scott. "You done here, Slim?"

"Unless you want to say anything," Scott said with a smirk, knowing already what the answer was.

Logan let out a little laugh. "Yeah, no. That's your forte, not mine."

Scott grinned at that before he turned back to the mic to thank the kids for their time and then put a hand on Logan's shoulder as he headed off the stage with him. "Perfect timing."

"Yeah? Woulda been quicker if they hadn't popped up security when you walked in the door," Logan told him. "I think they might be nervous you might try something."

"Well, clearly, they didn't listen to my carefully-prepared speech," Scott said dryly.

"I made sure to get out and come back in where I'd be seen — occasionally," Logan said. "So … we'll see how paranoid they are. Kitty's on it already."

"Then all that's left is to see how they react to a couple of X-Men being around the place for a few days," Scott said, still smirking to himself.

Almost on cue, Logan spotted a new face lurking outside a building down and on top of a roof. "Yeah. Friendly-like. Put on a good show. We'll have eyes on us the whole time."

"Not surprised," Scott said.

"Chances are good they're watchin' me," Logan said. "They didn't have anyone on deck that heavy until I showed up."

"If it gets too heated, let me know," Scott said with a smirk.

"It won't," Logan replied. "They're just watchin'."

Scott nodded as they headed down. "Then I guess all that's left is to let Heather deluge us with questions on the kids."

"Not questions on the kids," Heather said as she pulled a pair of students their way. "Questions _from _the kids."

Scott looked surprised for just a moment before he fell into an easy smile. "Alright. I didn't know we were running a Q&A."

"I was going to suggest one when we were assembled, but _this one _went and appeared and derailed everyone," Heather said, shoving Logan's shoulder.

"Call it life experience. Expect the unexpected," Scott said dryly. "Life in the X-Men."

"Hear that, Heather? He gave you a teaching moment. Embrace it," Logan muttered, getting Heather to blush and push him again.

"Alright. What do you want to know?" Scott asked, directing the kids to a place to sit before the excited teens went into a veritable flood of questions — so he was going to be there for a while.

* * *

The day after Scott and Logan got back from Canada was Kurt's birthday — since Logan was _not_, Kate told him, allowed to miss out on Kurt's sixtieth. Under any circumstances. She had plans. Plans that involved the bamfs helping her set things up in the morning. The cane she'd given him on his fiftieth was laid out by the bed, as well as a gorgeous case to hold reading glasses and fuzzy slippers that had taken her ages to design around his feet. Just to do it.

When Kurt saw all that she'd laid out for him, he started to shake his head in disbelief before he turned the other way, toward Kate, to shake his head at her. "You are mean-spirited."

"I'm taking care of my old man," she replied, perfectly straight-faced.

"Just you wait," he warned. "It's going to come back to you."

"Oh, I'm sure," Kate said, though she was wearing an impish grin. "So I assume that means you _don't _want to celebrate your birthday?"

"Oh, I do. I was already informed of the case of whiskey that magically made its way over customs."

Kate giggled. "And I talked Jubes into watching the kids for us tonight. I know you have to go to bed early now…"

"I think … if that's what _you _need to do … then I'll tuck you in and then go find that whiskey bottle with my name on it."

Kate laughed outright and pulled him down to her to kiss him deeply. "Fine. I'll just go to bed early. Me and my magic amulet."

"Oh, I can't wait to see how much gray hair _you _have," Kurt teased.

"Oh please. You didn't start graying until your forties. Ergo, I will be perfectly blue. Be jealous," she laughed.

"Except for all the purple dye you've been running through," Kurt pointed out.

"I like being purple," Kate said with a shrug and a grin before she stole another kiss. "Besides. _Your_ hair is graying faster than your fur."

"I guess we'll have to wait and see," Kurt teased, smiling wider. "Unless, of course, I can't remember my age and drink too much. That would be a shame."

"Yeah, don't do that," Kate laughed, grinning up at him. "_I'm _still young, and I'd like to have a little fun before I catch up to my old man."

"You'll probably _never _catch up — but you're welcome to try," Kurt laughed. "Try to keep up, now."

"Try?" Kate repeated with one eyebrow arched before she grinned at him and all but tackled him.

Of course, when they did — eventually — get down to where the rest of the mansion residents were, there were plenty of birthday wishes to go around. The best, however, was a recitation from Krissy that Kate had _clearly _coached her on: a little "ode to youth" that lasted all of a minute and had the adults in the room stuck between laughing at Kurt's totally betrayed expression and laughing at Kate slowly slipping out of her chair with laughter.

Elin had made sure to bring him a very fluffy-looking and sugar-coated blueberry muffin and a kiss, just to try to lighten up the giggles for five seconds for him.

He laughed and swept her up with a kiss pressed to her temple. "Thank you, Elin."

"Happy birthday," she told him with a squeeze. "Mom said you'd like the muffin."

"Your mother is a lot sneakier than Kate is," he said with a teasing smile.

"My mom is a lot sneakier than pretty much everyone," Elin replied at a whisper.

He grinned at that and kissed her cheek. "Yes. Yes, she is."

After the muffin, there were plenty more gag gifts to go around — but there were plenty of actual, heartfelt ones as well. The show-stealer, though, was probably the one that Kaleb and Kade had done together, a little fingerpainting that Kaleb promised was _supposed _to be a picture of Kurt, because the boys had wanted to do something nice.

It was like that all day. There would be something sweet — like the album of photographs Jubilee had worked with Peter Parker to put together — and then something to poke fun at his age — like the huge cake Annie and Kate brought out with only "60" on it in _huge _writing "so you can read it," according to Kate.

But eventually, Kurt found his way down to where Logan was for a game of pool, some whiskey, and a couple hours of simply spending time together. And even before that portion of the night was out, Kurt still got a bear hug and well wishes.

"How about we get you upstairs before I'm accused of takin' all the fun?" Logan suggested when Kurt was grinning widely and totally relaxed. "I'll make sure you get there."

Kurt's grin somehow widened at that as Logan pulled him to his feet and they headed upstairs together. When they got to Kurt and Kate's room, Logan knocked just to get Kurt to laugh, especially when he called out to Kate. "He's back — you had plenty of time to get indecent."

Kate laughed from the other side of the door before she came to get Kurt, grinning widely in a purple robe as she slipped her arm under Kurt's shoulders. "I've got it from here. Thanks."

"I certainly hope you do," Logan said before he turned and left the two of them to their troublemaking as Kate laughed and made sure to lock the door behind them.


	8. Prettiest Thing in the Multiverse

**Chapter 8: "Prettiest Thing in the Multiverse"**

The Howletts had taken Logan's birthday weekend as a chance to separate from the school for a few days to let K catch her breath. The little ones wished their father well and then happily spent the weekend holed up with Peter and Sara Parker — mostly watching movies and throwing popcorn at each other — though Peter was more than a little surprised when he saw James' homework ... and was entirely shocked when James blew him off when Peter offered to help him.

"I've got it," James promised. "It's not that big of a deal, really." The little guy looked almost bored as he went through it, taking his time and doodling in the margins while he wasted time between questions — more interested in watching Sadie try to teach Sara some Japanese.

But the weekend slipped by fast, and when the kids returned to the institute, their mother looked more than a little miserable, even if she did make sure to give Peter a kiss on the cheek when she saw him.

"Thank you, Peter," K called out.

"Hey, anytime, really," Peter replied.

"You say that now … but when everyone is gone on some high-pressure mission in a couple weeks, you'll be busy," she said with a smirk.

"Nah, we can handle it," he said confidently, brushing off his nails on his chest.

"Then we'll send a bamf," Logan suggested. "Since you can handle it."

"I didn't know you were planning on having some all-important mission in a few weeks," Sara said with a little smirk.

"Just the way it seems to work," Logan replied. "Real quiet, then everything happens at once."

"Maybe you'll still get to have a nice quiet holiday season anyway," Sara decided. "Seeing as a couple years ago, at about this time, I seem to remember you kidnapping Peter."

"Did we?" Logan asked. "I think you're imagining things. Don't sound like us."

"Oh sure," Sara said airily.

"Thanks for watchin' em," Logan said as James pulled on his hand. "You'd let me know if they were bein' a pain, right?"

"If they were being pains, Aunt May would be here, and they would _not _be pains anymore," Peter teased. "And considering she's all… umm... newly married to a supervillain and all that, it's real lucky for her these kids never need May-ing to keep them in line. So… easy-peasy."

"We'll let you know when there's another one to add to the roster, Petey," Logan said, finally heading back up the stairs.

* * *

A few days later, Peter was going through a mountain of intel on some upstart Hydra faction that was trying to gain steam again in Eastern Asia when a little blue bamf appeared in a swirl of acrid smelling thick, blue-black smoke. His little nose was inches from Peter's when his wide yellow eyes cut through the smoke, and Peter very nearly went over backwards entirely with a shouted 'ACK!'

"You can't just … _who does that_? You guys gotta stop doing that!" Peter said before the little blue guy with a very agitated tail poofed onto his chest, and little hands held onto Peter's face as he chattered incessantly until Peter blinked hard a couple of times and realized what was going on. "Sara!" he called out finally, putting two and two together. "I'm … going to the X-Mansion … probably be back in a few … it's still …" His voice dropped slightly as he frowned at the little imp, then looked over at the calendar. "It's still early, isn't it?" he asked the imp, who nodded, his eyes even wider than before. "Okay. Okay. Let's … let's go get the kids. Okay? Okay."

In an instant, Peter found himself in Logan's room — the three Howlett children were awake and a little concerned with their parents' sudden disappearance. "Hey guys!" Peter said with a little wave. "Um … did your mom or dad say anything before they … ditched?"

"Mom's having the baby," James said without the least bit of concern over that.

"Dad said to go with you when you showed up and that he'd tell Scott and Kurt later," Elin finished, though before Peter could figure out what to do, Kurt was there in the room as well, looking worried.

"They can stay with me if it's any trouble," Kurt said immediately.

"No, no!" Peter said, holding both hands out in front of him. "I told Logan I'd keep them while all this was going on. I'll just … take them to my place and we'll watch movies … order a pizza … you know. Healthy. All that."

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked, a whisper of a smile on his face. "Because if that's the case, I think I'd very much like to help out with their mother if I can." With a grin from Kurt, three more little blue bamfs appeared and latched themselves onto the kids and Peter before the whole group simply disappeared, reappearing in Peter's living room.

"Sara!" Sadie called out as soon as the smoke was clear enough for her to see her. She rushed over to her and wrapped her up in a bear hug as Sara laughed at the little one and Peter immediately started trying to figure out how to entertain the kids with no prearranged plan.

* * *

Back at the mansion, however, things were moving along a lot quicker than Hank would have liked to see. In spite of everything he tried — and all the drugs administered with the dampener field in play — the little one had decided it was time to get _out. _

In short order, Hank had kicked out everyone that was trying to help outside of Logan and Daisy, who of course who was diving in alongside him to get everything rolling. A very short time later, Hank was working on the tiny girl to get her moving right. It took a lot longer than he liked, but finally, _finally,_ the little one let out a tiny, soft, squeaky cry that at least meant they were on the right track.

As soon as it was clear that Hank had the little one set up, Kurt stepped out and teleported to Avengers Tower first, smiling widely as he had caught Steve and Leslie Ann sparring. "Captain Rogers," he called out with a little grin that kept on widening. "I hate to take you from being so thoroughly trounced by our favorite Amazon, but we need you at the mansion."

"Something going on I should know about?" Steve asked, clearly not catching on at all.

"Yes, obviously," Kurt laughed. "Logan's little one has arrived a bit early. And you should be there to see her."

Steve did a small double-take and then leaned toward him with a look of disbelief on his face. "Seriously?"

Kurt laughed as, in answer, he took hold of Steve's arm and teleported both of them back to the mansion, stepping back with a bow. "She's on oxygen, so you can't hold her yet, I'm afraid. But she is beautiful, just like her parents."

"Oh. Well that's fitting enough," Steve chuckled, grinning already before he even got anywhere near her.

Kurt grinned before disappearing again — this time to go get the kids, and Kate while he was at it — and fully enjoying himself to boot.

When they got down to the medical bay, Steve had taken up residence next to the little one with a massive grin on his face that only momentarily shifted Kate's way when she stepped in the room. "Luckiest kid in the mansion," he said with a laugh.

"Oh yeah? Why, 'cause your pretty face is here to watch out for her?" Kate teased.

"They said you were the godmother … so … between us that's pretty darn good," Steve replied.

Kate's jaw dropped as she looked between Steve and Logan and K. "Shut up!" she said, shaking her head before she rushed over to wrap Logan up in a hug, since K was still sitting. "Luckiest kid in the mansion _oh my gosh_."

"Had to get you the right partner in crime," Logan told her.

"Perfection!" Kate declared happily, giving him another squeeze before she rushed off to hug Steve and give him a kiss on the cheek. "Oh… but you _have _to call Clint, too," she said, glancing over at K.

"Oh … that sounds like something Kurt can do. Kidnapping and all that," K said, grinning and grimacing at once, slowly pulling Logan's flannel shirt up over her shoulder.

Kurt beamed at her and bowed deeply. "Say no more, Captain," he said before disappearing again.

"I love it when he's in a good mood like that," K said, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed.

"He loves it when his friends are happy," Kate said with a laugh, joining Steve in staring down at the adorable little one before a _bamf _indicated that Kurt had reappeared with Clint — who was still holding the pizza slice he'd been eating.

K waved her fingertips at Clint. "Hey there, torture husband."

Clint blinked around the room wide-eyed for a moment before he saw the little girl — and the fact that K was wearing her normal-sized clothes — and broke into a laugh before he rushed over to K to tackle her. "You didn't _have_ to get me baby kisses for my birthday!" he teased.

"I figured I'd make it hard to top," she chuckled. "Though … Steve's godfather this time around."

"'S fine. I'm always getting shown up by Cap," he teased. "Doesn't matter. _I _get to split the cake."

"It'll be fun to see who gets more on their face," K said as she let him pull her upright.

"Oh, me, for sure. She'll be a perfect lady like you," he teased.

"Oh, and I never ever get frosting where I don't mean to," she laughed.

"I leave that to your other husband," he chuckled before he wrapped her up in another hug. "Seriously though — congratulations."

"Thanks," she said, squeezing him back. "Now we get to see how long it takes for her to get over the Tiny Rogers Syndrome."

"I feel like I should be insulted somehow," Steve said, though he was still smiling.

"It just means she takes after her godfather," Kate teased. She glanced up at Logan and K. "Do you need help with the kids? Because Kurt and I can wait a day on the anniversary trip…"

"You don't have to do anything like that ... " K said, snuggling into Logan, who was simply watching the entire group.

"Go ahead and enjoy your trip," Logan told her. "Supposed to be a big one, isn't it?"

"Ten years," Kurt agreed with a warm smile Kate's way.

"We're going to try to go to Germany and not have any castle rescues necessary," Kate teased. "I mean, we _could_. For old time's sake. I'll wear his shirt…"

"I don't think Clint's old enough to hear that story," K replied.

"Clint was there when I came home," Kate laughed, waving her hand.

"Then he's definitely not old enough to hear it," she insisted.

Kate laughed at that, and Clint stuck out his tongue. "C'mon. Can't be a proper May-December if you're in denial about who's the December in the relationship," he laughed.

"I … like to keep my options open. You tell me which way it should go, oh, torture hubby," K said. "Maybe I'll go along with it."

Clint laughed out loud — and then laughed harder when Kate called out, "And _I _am not old enough for _that _discussion!"

"But you're my … um… no. Kurt's my _dad_ still … _Mom_," K called back.

"Well then this is just weird, considering you're convinced Clint is my brother…"

K shrugged. "I tried to tell him you were just in it for the tail … but he didn't listen."

Kurt shook his head at her. "You are ridiculous," he said, though that didn't stop him from reaching over to Kate with his tail to pull Kate closer to him with a wide and impish grin. "And we will see you both at Christmas," he added, pulling Kate into a long kiss before they disappeared.

* * *

The next day, the mansion got the first of the baby visitors that weren't teleported in when K's sister, Lisbet, and Wade came to see the tiny girl. Of course, they'd gotten their information through the grapevine as Steve had gone back to the tower grinning like a loon and held back from telling anyone that would listen to him about his new goddaughter for all of five seconds. Which meant that in no time at all, Ellie knew … and very shortly after, her dad knew too. Which was how the little family came to be the first to drive in — even ahead of Kitty and Jubilee.

Logan and K were still down in the med bay, half snuggled up and half making sure that one of them was touching little Malin at all times. Neither of them was expecting Lisbet to come rushing in to see the new little girl — or for her to immediately fall apart in tears when she saw the sweet little thing, both hands clasped to her mouth with a look of pure delight.

"I think that means you two make a pretty niece for us," Wade said with a wide grin before he was sure to tackle Logan in a hug.

"Get off me, Wade," Logan said, one hand on his face to push him back, though it absolutely didn't bother Wade one bit.

"Thanks. I think that's an accurate translation for hysterical sister," K agreed, tipping her head to invite Lisbet closer. "Her name is Malin, by the way."

"She's _beautiful_," Lisbet said, still wiping at her own eyes.

"_Lisbet,_" K said, half smirking, half staring at her. "_Grattis._"

Lisbet looked up at K and let out a little laugh. "Oh, you… you had to know already," she said, still with a little shake to her tone. "July. We're due in July."

"That's perfect," K said before she slipped over to give her sister a hug. "And it's _long _overdue for you."

Lisbet let out a rough laugh and wrapped her sister in a hug. "_Tack så mycket_."

Wade elbowed Logan in the side with a wide grin. "So, _Uncle Wolvie_. What do you think — boy or girl?"

"I'm in shock," Logan said. "But if you're lucky, it'll be a girl and take after her mother."

"Oh, I hope so," Wade said perfectly seriously before he let out a squeal of happiness and bounced in place.

"Congrats, Wade," Logan said, this time allowing the hug that followed when Wade picked him up off of the ground.

"You'll be there, right?" Wade asked with a wide grin. "Gotta start her out right. Meet the _whole _family."

"Of course we will," K called out to him. "But you need to let him breathe to answer you."

"Oooh, right," Wade said as he set Logan down and brushed imaginary dirt off his shoulders.

"If I'd known there was going to be such a sweet family reunion, I'd've come back later," Annie said with a little smile when she saw the way K and Lisbet were still sitting with arms around each other.

"Annie," K called out, waving her over. "Come and meet Malin — and congratulate my sister."

Annie laughed as she made her way over, smiling down at the dark-haired little one. "Oh, she's precious," she said with a warm smile before she looked up at Lisbet. "What's the occasion?"

"She and Wade are due in July," Logan answered.

Annie's mouth dropped open before she started _beaming _at both of them. "Congratulations!" she said, making sure to hug Lisbet and Wade both — and getting a spin out of Wade for it. "Do you have names yet?"

"We have a few," Wade said, laughing as he spun her around again.

"That's _wonderful_, really," Annie said, grinning at the gathered family. "I'm sure Ellie's thrilled."

"She's hoping for a brother," Wade admitted, making a show of sounding incredibly betrayed.

"And you want a girl, I take it."

"Obviously. She should look just like Lisbet. People will throw flowers at her feet as she passes," Wade said airily.

"I don't know," K said, smirking up at him. "I think I'd like to see what a little boy Wade looked like."

Wade grinned widely at her behind the mask and nodded. "Yes, well, believe it or not, I _was _handsome in my younger days," he said, drawing himself up.

"I believe it," she agreed, only earning a more broad grin from him.

"Whatever we have, they'll be beautiful," Lisbet said, leaning back happily. "But I'll have to beg the services of your doctor, all things considered."

"Anything you need," Hank promised from across the way.

"Oh good! We've got Dr. Fuzzy and Blue… got the aunt and uncle… all is right with the world," Wade said, all but dancing back over to where Lisbet was to kiss her cheek and then wander over to Hank to do the same, singing "Fuzzy and Blue" in a perfect Grover imitation, though at a slower pace that could be considered a serenade.

* * *

It was a few days before Christmas when Kurt and Kate arrived back from Germany and their anniversary trip — in time to catch the other holiday guests as the staff from Chicago came down to be with friends and family for Christmas.

Which meant that Scott and Annie were wrapped up with Willow, laughing as she told them all about how she _could _keep up with Jayce and Tristan — she _could_. And of course Tyler and his family were just as wrapped up catching up with Daisy, Hank, and Jolie.

Nina Quill had monopolized Logan as much as she could, too — whenever he didn't have Malin, she was sitting in his lap, giggling at him and trying to explain to him whatever it was that he "gotta see" at any given point with her limited vocabulary.

And as Lucy played with Kaleb and Kade, Kate made her way over to her best friend to drape her arm around America's shoulders. "Look at them all," she said, sweeping her arm out. "You are just _torturing _Lucy at this point, you know that?"

"Yeah, I've heard this a few times now, Princess," America said, shaking her head.

"Even _Deadpool _is having little ones. Come on."

"America …" K said, calling her over. "Do you have some kind of problem with my little girl?"

"No one in the multiverse is stupid enough to have a problem with your kids," America said.

"Then why the _hell _haven't you come over to hold her yet?"

"Gee, look, it's the glitter bomb waiting to go off on me," America said dryly, but Kate was absolutely no help and all but shoved her toward K. "You and Lucy should stop texting. It's bad for me."

"She did say she wanted baby pictures," K defended. "And she particularly liked the ones of Cap holding her … and Billy trying not to cry on himself just because she yawned on him …"

"Billy's like that," America said with a wave as she tucked Malin into the crook of her arm, and the tiny girl stared up at her with big, blue eyes, watching her intently and perfectly comfortable. "Yeah, hello. Heard you got my best friend for a godmother. Sorry 'bout your luck," America said with a grin down at the little girl. And when Malin seemed to raise an eyebrow at that, she laughed outright. "Hey, Kate, your godbaby's taking an attitude with me."

"Oh good. Then we're doing something right," Kate called back.

"I think she likes you," K told her as Malin simply kept staring at America.

"Good taste," America said easily as she gently handed Malin back to K. "And you aren't as subtle as you think you are."

"Who the hell said I was trying to be subtle?" K asked with a frown.

America laughed and shook her head, going over to find Lucy, though of course, when she did, it was to find her with Billy and Teddy, with both of their kids snuggled on either side of Lucy and telling stories about first grade.

"Found yourself a little Abracadabra, huh?" America said, shaking her head.

"That's us," Sammy giggled, pointing between herself and Harry.

"Which one are you?" Lucy teased.

"I'm Abra," Sammy said confidently.

"And I'm Cadabra," Harry said.

"As long as you know," America said, shaking her head as she sat down close to Lucy and Harry climbed up into her lap with a huge grin on his face.

"You know why we're called Abracadabra?" he asked America with wide eyes.

"Why?"

"Because Dad's magic."

"And dramatic," Sammy put in. "That's what Miss K says anyway."

"Yeah? Well both your dads are dramatic," America pointed out.

"It's one of the many things we share," Teddy said with a crooked grin.

"Yeah, yeah, don't tell me the rest," America teased. "I've heard the gushing before…"

"Are you and Lucy dramatic too?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Only she is," Lucy teased, reaching over to tickle his sides.

"Oh, sure." America shook her head and then looked down at Harry. "Help me tackle Lucy, seeing as I'm the dramatic one here."

"Okay," he said happily, gleefully helping her to get Lucy pinned and tickle her mercilessly, while America held Sammy off from helping with one hand.

"Okay, but seriously," Kate said as she came over to join the other Young Avengers. "I don't get it. You two are the cutest moms ever."

"You're real funny, Princess."

"No, really," Kate said, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed. "It took me forever to get the multiple kids thing down, and you've already perfected it."

"Kate…"

"I'm just saying. Maybe Billy can find you a Hocus Pocus to be best friends with Abracadabra."

"I don't _need _Billy's help, thanks," America said, shaking her head.

"Alright, if you say so," Kate laughed, holding up both hands. "But you have to admit — you wear the look _well_."

"Don't you have an Elf to go assault?"

"Oh, for _days_ in Germany, yes," Kate said without missing a beat, her grin widening to something a little more obscene.

America chuckled and leaned over to Lucy. "Maybe that's what we should have done. Romantic European getaway just the two of us instead of coming to the zoo."

"You act like you don't love it here," Lucy said with a laugh.

"Besides," Kate said, laughing as she gestured over to where Scott was holding Willow with an open look of enjoyment. "The Papa Scott face… you had to see that too."

"True," America admitted.

By that time, Peter and Sara had made their way over to the group, and Peter followed their gazes to see where the attention was before he broke into a wide grin when he saw Logan with Malin. "Oh, here's trouble," he said, taking out his camera so he could snap some pictures as Willow stood up in Scott's arms to see Malin better.

"Gee, Grandpa, who's that?" Peter said in a high voice to imitate Willow that had Kate laughing already. "Well you see, Willow, that will be your future best friend. But you must never tell anyone that I've said as much because we are all genetically predisposed to be that way and I missed the memo," he continued in a lower tone that must have been Scott.

"Parker …" Logan said, shaking his head to himself. "...what the hell are you doing?"

Peter waved the camera in his hand. "Taking pictures. Big family get together. Documentation. All that."

Logan gave him a dry look as Sadie ran around the corner to wrap herself around his legs and look straight up at him. "Hi."

Peter put his camera back down, resting it on the strap around his neck, before he picked Sadie up with a grin. "Hey there, Sadie. You loving your little sister?"

"Yep!" She sang out. "You can hold her now!"

"Yeah, and she's making the rounds," Peter agreed, nodding along. "Did you see her meeting Willow over there? I think they're going to be best friends."

"Maybe," Sadie said, thinking it over. "We think that _America _should have her best friend."

"You do, huh?" Peter said, grinning over at the frizzy-headed woman.

"Oh, come on," America grumbled.

"Yes. And if it's a little girl, maybe they can fall in _loooooove_."

That one did get America to laugh. "Sounds about right," she had to agree.

"That sounded like a 'yes' to me," Kate teased.

"That was a 'I believe in the power of love'," America shot back. "And you know _if _it ever happened, she'd be the prettiest thing in the multiverse."

"I wanna see the prettiest thing in the mult … verse," Sadie said in a rush, trying to make it in one breath and failing just shy of it.

"Right now, you're it," America said, grinning as she booped Sadie's nose.

She giggled and reached over to give America a bear hug, snuggling in tightly before she whispered in America's ear. "Nuh-uh. It's Malin."

"Oh, well, I guess," America said. "But you're still pretty high up there."

"If you say so," she giggled before she gave America a kiss on the nose. "I gotta go give out some kisses."

"Make sure you get Kaleb when Kurt's watching," America suggested.

"Okay," she giggled. "Right on the mouth."

"Oh yeah," America agreed. "He'll love it. Kurt will be beside himself." She grinned. "And then make sure to get Sammy."

Sadie grinned impishly and hopped down, making a beeline for Kaleb first, then running off, clearly spacing out the kisses for maximum effect.

"No, seriously," Kate said, and Billy started to laugh. "I don't understand. You're so good at this."

"Shuddup, Kate."

"She's not wrong," Teddy pointed out. "You can always adopt, you know."

America turned to face her old teammates and shook her head at all of them. "You're all… ugh."

"I think the word you're looking for is 'right'," Billy said quietly.

"Mmm, delusional," America said, waving her hand at him. "Besides, I know what I'm doing."

"Uh-huh," Billy said in a tone that clearly said he didn't believe a word of it.

While they were picking on America, Erik and May arrived along with Alex, Lorna, and the kids … but only since the timing worked out so perfectly, and they'd met them on the way in. Which meant of course that both May and Erik were totally wrapped up in the grandkids, who loved the attention they were getting.

Little Michael, however, was distracted from the story he was telling when Sadie bounded over to him and kissed him full on the mouth, leaving him totally shocked and grinning after her, his pink ears clashing with his green hair.

"Oh you're kidding," Alex muttered under his breath, and Lorna shook her head at him.

"I don't know what you're expecting. They're just kids," Lorna said as Magda slipped off to go find the others, smiling shyly at James once she'd found him. Of course, James gave her a broad smile and offered her his hand to go find the others, promising her that they were going to start up movies soon so the little kids could settle down.

"Oh yeah. Just kids," Alex said dryly.

"Oh please. They're nine." Lorna shook her head at him and waved him off before she turned back to talking with Erik and May.

James hadn't been wrong, though, about the kids heading up to watch movies, and it wasn't long before things were a bit quieter, and the adults were starting to break off into their own little conversations when America pulled Kate aside.

"Lay off the pushing, Princess; I mean it," she told Kate quietly.

"Hey, I am not even close to the worst person pushing here," Kate pointed out, and America shook her head.

"Yeah, you've got your other bestie working her own kids on me. I know." She let out a sigh. "Listen. I already set an appointment, alright? Got it written on a card I'm giving Lucy for Christmas. So just… lay off, would you?"

Kate stared at her best friend for a second before she flung her arms around America's neck. "For real?"

"Yeah, yeah, don't get mushy on me," America teased. "She wants to try it with a donor, so I booked us an appointment to look at options. Don't get _too _far ahead of yourself."

Kate beamed even wider at her friend. "Stil! That's amazing."

America laughed and shook her head at Kate. "Yeah, so, stop pushing, alright?"

"Oh, but if I stop, Lucy might suspect something."

"You've been hanging out here too long. You're learning torture methods from the trained mercenaries."

"Oh, yeah. For sure," Kate agreed without hesitation.

America shook her head and waved Kate off. "Anyway. Just thought I'd tell you. See if it worked to back you off. But clearly, I was wrong."

Kate laughed and wrapped America up in a hug to kiss her cheek. "Well, congratulations."

America let out a sigh but couldn't help returning the hug. "Yeah, thanks," she said before she spun on her heel to go find Lucy, pointing an accusing finger at Logan as she passed him by when he was smirking at her. "Don't start."

"I don't know what you're talkin' about," Logan replied.

"That's right you don't," she said, still stalking off as Kate broke down laughing.

But that had Logan laughing outright right along with Kate, with Kurt looking between them with a frown. "Alright," he said, shaking his head with his tail switching. "What do you two know?"

"I just said I didn't know what she was talkin' about," Logan replied. "Or weren't you listenin'?"

Kurt shook his head, but Kate had made her way over to snag him around the waist and kiss him. "I'll explain it to you," she promised.

"Use pictures," Logan suggested.

"No, I was thinking kinesthetic learning," Kate replied easily.

"Nice. Pretty sure there's something to be used for a blindfold if you want to see what he can remember on his own."

Kate grinned at that. "Oh, this must be explored," she agreed as Kurt shook his head at both of them — grinning right along with them anyway — before he kissed her and she started giggling. "Good start," she said, which had him laughing harder before they disappeared altogether.

_Translations from Swedish: _

_Grattis - _Congratulations

_Tack så mycket _ \- Thanks so much


	9. Explosions Make Everything Better

**Chapter 9: "Explosions Make Everything Better" **

The mansion was somehow quieter after Christmas Break even though there were enough kids coming back from vacation to make up for the difference in the people that had come to visit. But that was mostly because the mistletoe had been replaced with homework — at least for the kids, anyway.

With the new semester came new schedules, though Chance was glad to see that he and James had self-defense together again, because he loved having James in that class with him. And thankfully, Brian and Casey _weren't _in their self-defense class anymore — though Chance almost missed the opportunity to knock them flat on their backs.

They hadn't let up on picking on him. Casey was a little bit wary of James, and obviously, after Chance had broken Brian's wrist, neither of the boys tried anything like that. Not physical bullying. But that didn't mean it _stopped_, either.

Now, Brian was in Chance's science class, and Casey was in his English class. They were perfectly civil to Chance when anyone was looking, but before and after class, they'd start up with the taunting.

It was like they'd had a conference over Christmas Break as to what to say to get under his skin, because once the new semester started, either Brian or Casey would make sure that at least once a day, he was reminded, "You're only here because of your dad, Summers."

Which was how things were going as Chance headed down the hall to his English class when Casey caught up to him. "Don't need help with that backpack, do you?" Casey asked in a sneering tone. "Maybe one of us can help you lift it."

"Buzz off," Chance said, his eyes narrowed as he tried to shoulder past the older boy.

"Witty comebacks, too," Casey laughed, and Chance could hear a few people snickering. "Come on, Summers. Got to do better than that. All you've got's the name to trade on — you'll never make it to the big leagues."

"If that's true, you won't even make it to Little League," Chance shot back with a glare, this time earning a few snickers of his own.

Casey stopped and glared his way, but by that time, they were at the English classroom, and Chance ducked into the class before Casey could come up with a witty retort.

Not that it stopped Casey from sitting behind him and pushing his feet against the back of Chance's chair the entire class period.

Chance tried to keep his head down and concentrate on the class, though it was hard to do, and he was glad to be _out _of English as soon as the bell rang, looking forward to meeting up with Charlie like he always did when the school day was out — and since English was his last class, he was _done_.

He managed to avoid Casey in the flood of teenagers getting out of class before he found someone he _did _want to talk to, though it wasn't Charlie.

He grinned when he saw Cheryl and ran over to say 'hello.' "Hey, Cheryl. Did you see it start snowing halfway through last period? I bet it'll be perfect for sledding by the time it's done."

But to Chance's surprise, Cheryl — who had always at least _talked _to him — wrinkled up her nose at Chance as the two girls with her started giggling. "Like I'd go sledding with _you_," she said, shaking her head as she stalked away, leaving Chance totally floored and open-mouthed… though he almost wasn't surprised when he saw her further out talking easily with Brian.

Chance felt his face flush red before he very quickly made his way through the halls and out the door. After all, he knew the best places to get away from people from Charlie's little hiding spots, and since it was snowing, nobody would go out to the barn — at least nobody he wanted to avoid, anyway.

Charlie had a good hiding spot up in the hay loft, and she had blankets up there too because she hid there often enough, so Chance wasn't exactly cold, just bundled up as he tried to hide for a little while.

"Are you here to hide, to do homework, or to throw hay?" K asked when she found him bundled up and tucked away in the hay bales.

"I guess I can throw hay if you want help," he said in a sullen tone.

"No, it's kinda good for me to throw it myself. Still getting over everyone babying me," she told him before she sat down cross-legged on the pile of hay spread across the floor. "Of course … you could tell me what's wrong, and it won't leave the barn — unless it's earth-shattering."

"It's not earth-shattering," Chance said, shaking his head. "It's stupid."

"Sounds like the perfect thing to tell me about here, then," K told him. "Unless you just wanna take some frustration out. Then say the word."

Chance glanced up at her and rested his chin on his knees. "I try to ignore Brian and Casey," he said. "They're just stupid."

"They kind of are," she agreed.

"But now they've got other people talking like—" He let out a breath. "Cheryl won't even _talk _to me."

"Then she's not worth the breath," K replied with a wave.

"She talked to me before," he said quietly.

"Then she's acting like an idiot," K told him. "If she's stupid enough to follow what those two say, then she's really not worth the time. You don't want to be around people that are that easily swayed."

"It's hard," Chance admitted, settling his chin deeper on his knees. "They're telling everyone about how I don't have powers. And how I only got in because I'm a Summers. So everybody just thinks I'm here 'cause of Dad."

"Who cares what they think?" K asked. "I'm sure they're saying the same thing about James, too."

"They'll stop saying it when he's older."

"And they'll have to stop saying some of the same trash when you keep showing them up in class. You're not here because of your dad. You're here because you deserve it."

Chance glanced up at K and let out a slow breath. "That's what Dad says. But it's still hard."

"It is," she agreed. "But you're tougher than that."

"I try really hard to be," Chance said with a little nod.

"You know, I'm going to go relax after I'm done feeding the animals," K said after a long stretch of silence had passed. "Do you want to go with me? I promise not to talk about the morons in your class that are failing self-defense."

"Alright," Chance said with a little nod. "I don't really feel like going back to the school right now anyway." He peered up at her. "Are they really failing self-defense?" he asked with the beginnings of a crooked smile.

"They suck so bad," she said, waving her hand. "Especially since I'm helping Logan … they're not getting away with anything."

"Yeah, I like self-defense when you both teach," Chance said, the grin widening.

"Come on; get yourself together while I throw hay," she said, clapping her hand on his knee. "And then we'll go take a little drive to the other side of the property."

Chance couldn't help but grin as curiosity overrode his earlier frustration, and he ended up climbing down out of the hay loft with his backpack and a fairly red nose by the time K was done.

When they got done driving, and K set out a few dozen brightly-colored jugs, she drove across the open field and then opened up the back of the Jeep and started to pull out a few gun cases and an ammo box. "So … this is what I do when people tick me off," K said as she loaded up one of the rifles that Tony _hadn't _created for her.

Chance's eyes went wide. "Oh. I'm… not supposed to…"

"Then it's a good thing you're just keeping me company," K replied as she shouldered the rifle and leveled it for the first shot — and it came with an explosion of water out of the gallon jug she'd set downfield. "So … I know you're not supposed to touch these, and you don't have to. But you should know basic safety all the same."

She started to outline how it worked — and how to make sure it was safe — before walking him through firing it. With another loud crack like thunder, a gallon of water blew up, splattering the snow with colored water.

"If you decide to go ahead and be a hero, eventually, you'll run across a gun, and you'll need to know the right way to handle it. Make sure it's unloaded, or … in dire cases, return fire." She shot four more gallons in rapid succession before she opened the breach and turned his way. "If you like, I can call your mom and see if she's okay with you trying a shot or two out."

Chance's eyes were still wide, though he nodded very lightly. "Yes, please," he said softly.

K smirked and set the rifle down, with the breach still smoking from the last round as she called up Annie and put it on speaker phone. "Miss Annie, I am out on the range with a certain Mr. Chance Summers. Would it be alright with you if he tried out a few targets, once he passes the safety section, of course?"

"Why are you out on the range with Chance anyway?" Annie asked after a slight pause.

"He was a little down in the tooth, and I found him in the barn. I thought he needed a little smile."

There was another pause as Annie clearly thought it over. "I think… well. My daddy taught me when I was twelve. I suppose as long as he passes the safety course, he's old enough for a Hale boy, anyway."

"If you'd like, I'll just talk safety until you can get out here, Ms. Hale," K offered, smiling Chance's way.

Annie chuckled at that. "I'll be right down."

"See?" K said after she'd hung up. "Even your mother likes to go to the range with me."

"Mom also likes shooting the gun that you and Tony had made," Chance pointed out.

"It is a very fun gun," K said, nodding, before she pointed to the next rifle and started talking safety again, this time stopping from time to time to see what Chance remembered.

By the time Annie got to the range, smiling at the two of them, Chance was fairly excited and sure that he was starting to get it, his earlier frustration and apprehension gone the more he and K talked through the do's and don'ts.

"You want to quiz him, Annie?" K asked.

Annie grinned at the excited look on Chance's face and nodded, walking him through her own checklist before she looked up at K with laughter in her eyes. "Well, you've taught him well."

"I was paying attention," Chance said. "K said it might come up if I'm a hero, so I need to know it."

"It can't hurt to know," K said, shrugging. "And if he decides to try bear hunting with me, I'm not letting him take a bow."

"Bear hunting?" Chance repeated, his eyes going even wider than before.

"Where do you think Logan and I get the game from?" K asked. "Deer and bear don't just drop dead because we're scary."

"Yeah, I know, but… can I really go bear hunting with you?" Chance asked.

"That's between you and your parents, but as far as I'm concerned, I don't see why not. It's a great way to test your sneak." K gestured at the range. "But one thing at a time."

"Well, I think it's at least a good idea to learn how to shoot," Annie said with a smile. "I've been able to deal with a few bad guys of my own with those guns of yours."

"We'll start you out fairly easy," K said, pointing to the first rifle and walking him through how to load it properly — and pointing out the safety. She pointed out one of the green targets she'd been shooting the whole time they were there. "Take your time. Get your breathing steady, and when you're ready — go ahead. You have one round in the chamber, that's all."

Chance looked nervous as he followed her instructions, and he took his sweet time getting himself psyched up, but when he finally pulled the trigger, the shot was nowhere near the target, and he was totally surprised by the kickback.

"Whoa," he said quietly.

"You flinched," K said with a little smile. "I think everyone does first time out, but now you know what to expect, so … pull it tight to your shoulder and try again when you're ready." She handed him another single round and tipped her chin down range. "Same target."

Chance nodded, still wide-eyed and grinning to himself as, once more, he followed K's instructions, trying to compensate the way K had said — though his second shot wasn't anywhere near the target either, even if this time he was slightly better prepared for the kickback.

K was smiling at him and shaking her head. "You have to relax, my sweet little Summers," she told him, trying not to laugh at the situation all together. "But you almost had it." Again, she handed him a round.

"Okay, so I have to relax. But hold it tight." Chance wrinkled his nose.

K smiled and stepped behind him to help him pull it tighter. "About like this. You don't have to drive it through your shoulder. And everything else … just breathe."

"That part I can do," he said with a small smile. "I learned that in archery."

"And martial arts," K said, pointing one finger his way. "Same thing. If you get really good, I'll teach you how to shoot like a sniper."

Chance lit up with a huge smile at that. "Can you? I want to learn everything I can."

"Before you can do sniper school, you'll have to at least hit a few targets."

"I can do that. I just need to practice," he assured her confidently, flashing her a brilliant smile.

K and Annie shared a smirk as Chance got himself settled in for another shot. He took a little longer to make sure he was prepared and that his breathing was nice and even before he very calmly flipped off the safety and put steady pressure on the trigger like K had told him. This time, he hit the jug — and green water blew up into the air.

He let out a delighted whoop and turned to both K and Annie with a grin clearly fueled by some adrenaline as well.

"Do you think he's ready for a red target?" K asked Annie.

Annie laughed. "I think he's ready to take on the world," she teased.

K smiled at her and nodded her head before she pulled out another round and handed it to Chance. "On the red targets is a small black circle. You want to try to hit the circle or near enough to it. It's not water."

Chance nodded his understanding, grinning widely. "This is amazing," he said in a delighted whisper.

She patted him on the shoulder. "It just gets better, sweetheart."

He was clearly riding the adrenaline high as he settled in, trying to make sure his breathing was even despite the fact that he was so giggly and excited. So the first shot missed — horribly — but it was enough to get him to calm down and better prepare for the second time.

That one missed, too, but he very quietly set up for the next shot, looking more determined this time as he went through everything K had told him, breathing evenly before — _boom_.

"Oh _wow_!" Chance shouted, totally taken aback by the explosion and laughing in delight and surprise before the explosion had even really ended, which had Annie laughing just as delightedly at the look on his face.

"Mom's turn," K said, handing Annie a round. "Ladies' choice on which target you want, Annie Oakley."

Annie laughed at that. "Red, please."

"It's kind of like pool, Chance," K explained to the excited young man as Annie got prepared to shoot. "Only we just call out the colors."

"It's _so _much cooler than pool," he said, still positively beaming.

"And more satisfying than archery," K laughed.

"Well, Kate won't let us shoot any splodies."

"Baby splodies," K muttered as Annie leveled up her shot. A heartbeat later, there was another explosion, and Annie lowered the gun with a grin, enjoying watching the plume of fire.

"Mom is good at this," Chance said as Annie let out a laugh.

"Mom is a crackshot," K agreed.

Chance grinned that much wider. "So's Dad, but different."

"He can do this just fine too," K promised. "Just because he doesn't like it doesn't mean he's not any good." She picked up the next rifle and loaded a round. "Pick one for me."

He grinned. "Red."

"It's always red," K laughed, though she barely got the rifle to her shoulder before the target blew up. "You'll get faster too."

"I want to," Chance said, his eyes wide and grinning as K laughed and started to direct them, the three of them switching off turns, of course saving the last explosive targets for the very end.

"You did pretty well, Mr. Summers," K said, one arm around his shoulders.

He grinned up at her. "That was _amazing_," he told her earnestly.

"It's a whole lotta fun," she agreed. "And you'll have a leg up. When you finally are old enough to join the team, Logan makes everyone go through a short course."

He grinned even wider at that and nodded. "Good. I want to learn everything I need to so I can be on the team."

"Great. So, if we're going to continue, you know you'll have to clear it by your dad too," K said. "I'm more than happy to talk to him with you — but you have to go too."

Chance paused as he thought about it. "No," he said at last. "I should do it myself."

"I'll be nearby for backup if you need it," she swore.

Chance nodded and then wrapped his arms around her in a hug. "Thank you. Really. That was a _lot _of fun."

"You're very welcome," K said as she hugged him back. "I'm glad it cheered you up a little bit."

"A little bit?" He grinned. "That was _amazing_!"

K hugged him again and looked over to Annie and mouthed out a little 'thank you'. Annie smiled at that and returned the favor with a 'thanks' of her own.

By the time the three of them got back to the mansion, Chance was still in an amazing mood, and he led the way toward his dad's office, still grinning and overly excited.

"Hey, bud," Scott said with a smirk when he saw Chance come bursting in. "What's got you in such a good mood?"

"I got to go out to the range with Mom and K," he said brightly, getting Scott to raise both eyebrows.

"Oh yeah?"

Chance grinned and nodded. "Yeah, K showed me how to be safe around guns, and then she had Mom come out so I could learn how to shoot," he explained in an excited rush. "And it was _amazing_. I blew up a target!"

Scott stared at Chance for a moment. "You did?"

Chance nodded again. "I love it a lot, Dad. It was amazing, and K said if I want to do it again, I have to ask you. So… can I please, _please _learn how to shoot some more?" He looked totally sincere as he looked up at Scott. "K said I'd have to learn it anyway if I want to join the team, and Mom's really good at it already. And she started learning when she was my age. So can I, please?"

Scott watched Chance for a moment, more than a little annoyed at how well he was backed into a corner so he couldn't say no, before he finally let out a breath. "I want to go with you for a few lessons first."

Chance broke into a huge grin and rushed over to throw his arms around Scott in a hug. "Thanks! I'll tell K!" he said, almost giggling to himself before he all but ran out of the room to do just that, leaving Scott shaking his head at the whole situation.

* * *

Chance was practically bouncing in place through the entire ride out to the range, and as skeptical as Scott was over the whole idea of teaching his 11-year-old how to shoot, he couldn't stop the smirk at the pure _glee _that was emanating off of Chance all the same as he practically tripped over himself getting out of the car to run over to where K was getting things set up for their lesson.

Scott looked over the setup with half a critical eye as Chance gave K a hug and thanked her profusely for letting them come out and shoot some more. But again, Scott couldn't help but smile at how thrilled Chance was about the whole thing.

"We'll keep your distance about where it was before — seventy-five yards. It's a safe range for what we'll be using today," K said as she explained to them both what the targets were. Blue for water, green for smoke, and red for fire.

"The red ones are my favorite," Chance said with a crooked sort of grin.

"The red ones are everyone's favorite," K promised, giving Scott a little smirk. "Start with blue, and before you touch the rifle, tell your father what you know."

Chance nodded excitedly before he launched into an explanation of everything he remembered from K's lesson with him and Annie — which was also a relief for Scott, since it was clear Chance had been paying close attention not just to the fact that this was something that he could use to get explosions but that this was something he needed to be careful with, "like being careful with powers."

Scott nodded at that and couldn't help but put in his own reminders on safety as Chance headed over to get the rifle from K, though of course, that got Chance rolling his eyes. "I _know_, Dad."

K stopped and gave Chance a stern look. "No place for that on the range."

Chance looked abashed for a second but still shook his head. "But I know."

"And you can know and still reassure your father that you know _without _being a little sassbox." K didn't change her stance and simply waited for Chance to be smart and apologize without prompting.

Chance looked between K's stern look and his dad and let out all his breath. "Sorry," he said, looking sullen at the fact that he was already getting a talking to when he hadn't even gotten to shoot yet.

Scott smirked and waved Chance forward. "It's alright. Just remember how your mom taught you to act, alright?"

Chance nodded and then turned to K. "Can we shoot, _please?" _

"You bet," K said with a nod before she picked up an entirely different rifle than what he'd used the time before. "Let's go through how to load this one, because the lever works a little differently than the bolt." She showed him it was empty and then started to tell him how it operated, and once he had a good handle on it, she had him go to the shooting bench and then gave him his first round. "Blue first."

Chance nodded and looked a bit more serious as he lined up his shot and got his breathing just right, even though it was clear for both of the adults to see he was excited about it. He got the edge of the target with the shot, but it was enough to get brightly colored water bursting out as he grinned delightedly and turned back to K. "That is still _so _cool."

"It is," she agreed, pointing him to the next target. "Two more, then we'll see if Dad's up to it."

Scott held up both hands at that. "I'm just here to observe."

"If you're willing to admit your boy can outshoot you already, I guess that's your business," K said with a shrug. "But there are plenty of targets to go around."

"C'mon, Dad. Mom already was _so cool_. She can hit the shot every time!" Chance said with a wide grin.

"I've even got it set up for a teamwork kind of angle if you're up to it," K told him.

"How's that?" Scott asked, one eyebrow raised.

"The green targets." She crossed her arms, and it was abundantly clear that she wasn't about to elaborate yet.

"Blowing smoke?" Scott asked with a smirk.

"Exactly," she agreed with a smile. "But if you're not up for a mini sniper _demo_, then we'll just have to be sure we don't hit all the blue targets."

Scott let out a breath and shook his head. "Alright. I'll bite."

"Atta boy, Scotty," K said with a smile before she handed Chance his next round.

"It's more fun with more people anyway," Chance said, grinning crookedly up at K before he went back to his rifle.

"Stick to blue," K told him, resting her hand on his shoulder. "You're doing great so far."

"Thank you," Chance said brightly, unable to stop the grin as he went back to his target for another shot, which had Scott shaking his head with a little smile.

When Chance had made both shots — very close to center — K pointed downrange to the large, circular, paper targets in front of the blue jugs. "Those are closer to seventy yards out," she told him. "And like archery, aim for the center. Then, instead of running downrange to see how you did, your father has a pair of binoculars at the end of the table, and he'll tell you how far off you are."

Chance nodded at that, looking totally serious and concentrated as he lined up with the new targets, and almost as soon as he had taken the first shot, his head came up to look at Scott. "I was close, right?"

"Yeah, you were," Scott said, binoculars in hand and a little smile on. "You're slightly to the left."

"Don't change where you were aiming yet," K told him. "Don't move the rifle more than you need to in order to reload. We're checking your scope right now. See if you're grouping in the same spot or if you're all over." She handed him another round and nodded for him to go ahead.

Chance was still grinning to himself after every shot as K had him make a few more, and while Scott was giving the same report, that he was close but to the left, Chance looked at K with wide eyes. "So now what?"

"Now," she said, picking up the rifle herself and putting in three rounds. "I'll check it and see where we are." She took a moment to aim carefully and quickly cycled through all three before she lifted her head from the stock and narrowed her eyes downfield. "What say you, Scotty? It looks like it's still left to me. And a touch low."

Scott couldn't help but smirk a little as he checked. "That's what I'm seeing."

"That's easy enough then," K said with a nod before she turned to Chance. "You got a quarter on you?"

"Umm." Chance dug in his left pocket. "I think so." He was watching her curiously as he handed her the quarter. "Why?"

"Thank you," she said, popping off the covers of the adjustments on the scope. "Because this is about the best tool you can use — and it's easy to replace if you lose them." She used the coin to turn the adjustment just a touch, looked downfield, and readjusted horizontal again and the vertical minutely before she popped the caps back on and handed Chance his quarter back along with another round. "Try it now."

Chance was grinning as he took the quarter back and shoved it in his pocket, then took the rifle again. "That was pretty cool," he told her, crooked grin still in place before he lined up his shot.

"Fancy tools, I tell you," K muttered.

Chance grinned wider at that before he took in another breath and took the shot, glancing up at his dad as soon as he did.

"Much better," Scott said with a nod. "Dead center." At that, he couldn't quite stop the grin — especially because Chance let out a delighted whoop when he heard it.

"Alright. Next paper one," K said. "Then you can give Dear Old Dad a shot."

Chance was feeling pretty good about himself as his next shots were on-target too, and by the time his turn was up and he stepped back, it was clear he was riding high. "I like this," he decided, then glanced at K. "Red targets later, right?"

"I thought we might give your dad the first one once he hits paper."

Chance tipped his head to the side and then nodded, still grinning. "Yeah, he hasn't gotten to do that yet."

"Next paper one, Scott … just to get back in the saddle. I _know _you've done this before," K said, handing him all five rounds.

Scott smirked at her as he got to the shooting bench, though he let out a laugh when he heard Chance call out some of the safety tips over K's shoulder "just to make sure you've got it, Dad."

K put her hand over Chance's mouth and pulled him tight to her. "Troublemaker."

Chance grinned behind her hand and nodded, looking pretty pleased with himself as Scott lined up his shots — and five rounds later, Scott straightened up and looked K's way. "What do you think, Chance?"

"I think you should shoot a red one now."

"I think he should too," K said, presenting Scott with another round. "Anywhere on the red will do — center is best though, of course."

"Of course," Scott said with a smirk, shaking his head at the pair of them before he went back to the rifle and couldn't help but grin at the explosion that followed, especially because Chance was laughing.

"We like to blow off a little steam," K said, scrunching up her nose slightly.

"Yeah, I can see that," Scott said, still smiling. "What's next on deck?"

"Chance needs a turn with a red target for sure … and while he's doing that, I'd like you to turn your attention to the map, spotting scope, and compass."

"Oh good! I wanted to blow stuff up," Chance said, grinning outright, though Scott wasn't too far behind him either as he took a look at the map.

Chance took his time on his next shot and was positively cackling when he got his explosion. K simply shook her head at him. "Take a break. Leave the breach open and let it cool down. That barrel has to be smoking hot right now." She made her way over to Scott and rested one finger on the spotting scope. "Do you know how to work this thing? Or do you want a quick how-to? I'll be asking for coordinates."

"Yeah, I've used one before," Scott assured her. "What're you thinking?"

K gestured beyond the targets they had and gave him a sideways smirk. "I set up a bigger explosion a little further back, but once Chance shoots the green targets, the only one that'll be able to see it right will be you. Relay the coordinates and triangulate my angle to tell me where, exactly, the target is. I'll set up the shot, and as soon as the smoke clears enough to spot the neon pink spot … I'll shoot." She shrugged. "Most snipers work in teams. You have the guy that pulls the trigger and the guy that actually does the legwork."

"And today, I'm the legwork," he said, smirking despite himself.

"I know you like telling me what to do," she teased. "But the point is that I won't move the rifle, and I'll use your directions to set it exactly where you tell me to. If we do it right, the kid will get a kick out of it. But you get to sit with him and have him shoot the green ones while I go to a different spot."

"Seems like I'm getting the better deal here," Scott said with a smirk.

"It really does," she agreed. "I'm sure I'll hear him, though."

"The whole school will."

She grinned at him and handed him the rounds she had left for the gun they'd been using and headed over to open up the other gun case with the much more formidable-looking rifle. "Give me a few minutes. I'll get you on your cell."

Scott nodded her way, still smiling as he headed over to Chance to explain the setup — and the fact that he was going to be in charge of hitting the green targets, which he of course looked thrilled over. So once Chance was set up and ready to go, Scott called K on her cell.

"Okay, whenever you're ready," K told him. "I'm the little blue 'x' on your map."

Scott couldn't help but smirk at that as he checked her position for the coordinates to relay to her, and as soon as they were ready, he gave Chance the signal to shoot the three green targets. Chance was already grinning widely as the resulting smoke billowed out, but that turned into a loud, long laugh as soon as the explosion went off — and the laughter kept going as he grinned over at Scott, who couldn't help laughing either.

"Why don't you boys clear out the rest of those targets," K suggested. "I'll be there before you know it."

"_Alright_!" Chance yelled, all but jumping in place at the prospect of finishing out the lesson with explosions with his dad — so that by the time K did arrive, both of them were laughing. Chance was beside himself over how much fun it was — and how good he was at it — and Scott couldn't stop laughing at Chance.

"So, did we kill all of them?" K asked, putting her big rifle away.

"Yeah, we nailed 'em!" Chance said, still beaming her way. "I bet you heard, huh?"

"I heard everything," she said with a smile.

Chance rushed over to give her a hug and a crooked grin. "Thanks, K. This is _so _fun."

"Alright, come on — we need to get back before it gets too late," Scott said, shaking his head and still chuckling lightly.

K tossed him the keys to Logan's Jeep. "You're driving, big guy."

Scott grinned at that as Chance climbed into the backseat, though before K could climb in the passenger's side, Scott did have to put a hand on her shoulder and tipped his head to the side. "Can I have a word?"

"Absolutely," she agreed.

He stepped off with her a little further away from the Jeep where Chance couldn't hear and spoke quietly. "Alright. What started this?"

"Honestly, I was going out anyhow, and he was in a funk. I thought the kid would get a kick out of watching a few explosions," K told him. "But … the way he was looking at the guns and the targets … I thought maybe it could be good for him. That's when I called Annie. I wasn't going to let him touch anything without one of you two involved."

"So it was spur of the moment."

"Of course," she said smirking at him. "If it was planned, you'd have been a part of it before Chance even heard about it." She looked toward the range. "But he's a natural. And I'll teach him as long as you're fine with it and he's still interested."

Scott let out a breath and had to nod. "He's good at it," he had to agree. "I just don't want this to end up being—"

"A crutch?"

"I get on Kate's case all the time about making sure she can fight without the bow."

"Scott, if he never sees a gun in the field, I'll be happy about it. If this is just what he ends up doing on the weekend to blow off steam, that's great. But if he _can _use it, I don't see any reason he shouldn't in addition to just being as badass as all get out."

Scott had to smirk at that. "I just needed to make sure," he told her.

"I know," she said with a little nod. "And you have to know I'd never go along with it if I thought it was just about team business. I mean, how often do I carry? I know … claws, but still. This is a long-distance reach out and touch someone, and if it gets to the point that he wants something for in the field, I'll bribe Q."

Scott started to smile as he shook his head. "Better get him started. You're not wrong; he's a natural at this. He's that way in Kate's class too, right up there with Krissy."

"He's good," she agreed. "But as far as I'm concerned, this is a little more practical than a bow and arrow."

"Don't let Kate hear you say that," he teased.

"Oh, she's heard it," K promised. "Repeatedly."

Scott laughed and shook his head as they got back to the Jeep, and Chance leaned forward to stick his face between the two of them. "So, I get to keep shooting, right?"

"Yes, you get to keep shooting," Scott said, grinning the wider Chance's own smile got.

"_Alright_!" Chance beamed as he sat back in his seat. "Thanks, Dad. And K," he added quickly. And neither of them could stop their smiles at how genuinely _thrilled _he was.


	10. Don't Try to Sneak Past Logan

**Chapter 10: "Don't Try to Sneak Past Logan"**

James' classes for the new semester were a little more modified than the ones he started out with. His attempt to stay at the back of the class and off of Scott's radar in math was sunk pretty soundly when Peter Parker made a point to talk to Scott about the shortcuts he was taking when he'd had the kids.

And it was the same song and dance with his science classes with Hank — who was clearly having a blast coming up with stuff for him to do. Kate, however, wasn't exactly entertained with his desire to _not_ write if he could avoid it, and he had to remind himself that, family or no, a prank war with half the staff probably wouldn't be appreciated. Not until summer anyhow.

He was just thinking to himself how to rework the putty arrows so they exploded with the impact of the string instead of the impact after flight when the local bully population decided to interrupt his thoughts with a lot of the same crap they were spewing at Chance. They started with the classics: no powers, you don't belong here, that angle. "You have your entire life to be jerks," James said in a tone of longsuffering. "Why not take one day off just … you know. Shake it up."

"What, can't take the heat, small fry?" Casey sneered.

"Oh yeah, that's totally it," James said as sarcastically as he knew how. "More like you're just repeating the same crap, and it's boring. And totally explains why you're in the remedial English class."

Casey looked mad at that, but Brian had to chuckle, which just made Casey madder. "At least I _belong _at this school."

"Keep telling yourself that," James replied, still walking and not looking their way. "Meanwhile … you don't even know that you two are living proof that two wrongs won't ever make a right."

"Ha. Try looking in a mirror next time you and Summers are in a room."

"We're amazing; I don't know what you're talking about," James replied with a shrug. He turned finally with a frown. "Hey. How does it feel to get your backsides handed to you by a couple guys with nothing to boost them … what with all your _amazing _abilities?"

"Little punk," Casey said, glaring as he seemed ready to pound James if he could.

"Wow. Verbose." James shook his head and paused. "Want me to spell that for you so you can look it up?"

"You little—" Casey pounced in pure rage, but that was only ever going to go one way.

James sidestepped him, watching him go right past him, but as he did, James dropped his backpack and grabbed onto Casey's hand to yank it up between his shoulder blades as he knocked his feet out from under him. "Go ahead and try to hit me again. Your skin might be invulnerable, but I'm willing to find out if your bones are or not."

Casey squirmed, clearly still mad, before he called over his shoulder for Brian to help him — but that quickly stopped when Hank stepped into the hallway and looked over the rim of his glasses at the scene.

"And what, exactly, happened here?" he asked with a frown.

James turned to look at Brian and waited for a moment. "Go ahead. He can smell a lie better than you can tell one."

Brian stared between James and Hank and Casey before he swallowed and shook his head. "Nothing."

"Yes, it certainly looks like nothing," Hank said, still with that same over-the-glasses look at the boys.

James finally let go of Casey's thumb and stepped back, casually picking up his bookbag as he did so. "Am I late?" James asked, as if the altercation simply hadn't happened.

Hank looked between the boys one more time and let out a sigh. "Class started two minutes ago, James."

"My bad," he replied, stepping by him and not even looking back at the two boys, leaving Hank simply shaking his head before he went back to the class as well.

* * *

As for Scott and Annie, they were happy to see Chance and Charlie really starting to come into their own, though even with the bumps of bullying and everything that came with it, they were both surprised by how _hard _it was to wrap their heads around their twins being so … grown-up.

It was different for Scott, even though he had two adult children of his own. Rachel and Nate had been grown when he _met _them, even though he'd been able to raise Nate in an alternate future. But actually getting to see, in the right timeline and the right order, his children becoming their own people…

And Annie had never experienced this before - only secondhand with her sisters and their kids. So she didn't even know how to _begin _to deal with watching her kids grow up.

"Am I supposed to feel this sad?" Annie asked one night after they'd gotten the younger kids to sleep while the older kids were finishing homework.

Scott frowned as he changed out of his jeans and button-down shirt into his pajamas. "About what?"

"About how big our kids are."

"Ah." Scott nodded and then sat down on the bed beside her, reaching out to gently brush his hand over her shoulders. "I don't know what to tell you. Nate and Rachel skipped to adulthood for me."

"Well aren't you a little broken up about it, then?" Annie asked, though she didn't turn to face him as he instead started to rub her back.

"Well, yeah, I'm a little sad that they're not so little anymore," Scott admitted. "But I'm proud of them too."

"Oh, absolutely," Annie agreed quickly. "So am I. It's just… bittersweet."

Scott quietly massaged Annie's shoulders as he thought it over before he decided the best way to handle this was to cheer her up. "Is it because you're feeling old?" he teased over her shoulder.

Annie gasped and then spun to smack him in the shoulder. "Mr. Summers!"

"What?" Scott asked, grinning crookedly.

"You know better than to tease a lady about her age!"

"I wasn't teasing," Scott shot back. "Face it — you're old like the rest of us, Annie."

Annie let out a noise of shock and frustration before she simply knocked him back and started to tickle him until he finally relented and admitted that she was ageless and beautiful — of course.

* * *

Right around the beginning of February, as the winter semester was really getting into the full swing of things, the team picked up a little boy with red stripes and a tendency to accidentally shrink when he sneezed. He had only been going to the school for a few days while he tried to decide what to do with himself — and his powers — so he absolutely hadn't noticed the fact that one of the other kids in the mansion had been watching him.

Elin, on the other hand, had definitely noticed the fact that Krissy was spending her afternoon grinning over at little Liam, her chin in her hand and her tail swaying behind her as she tried to get his attention — though Liam was so distracted trying to get used to the school and learn his way around that he wasn't paying her any attention.

"Are you going to keep staring at him all day?" Elin asked as she ducked Krissy's tail again.

"Hmm?" Krissy glanced up at her friend.

"The new boy," Elin replied with a little smirk. "You should say hello."

Krissy turned a slightly darker shade of purple for a moment. "Oh. Yeah. He's cute," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I mean... "

"Or are you waiting for a cupcake?" Elin teased, going back to her reading.

Krissy stared at her for a second before she broke into a little grin. "Well, it _is _almost Valentine's."

"Go say hello," Elin urged. "Or I can introduce you if you're going Chicken Hawk on me."

Krissy rolled her eyes at that. "Oh please," she said, disappearing in an instant and leaving purple smoke behind her as she reappeared close by Liam, smiling widely.

Which, of course, startled the boy into jumping nearly out of his chair before he saw that it was just another one of the kids in the mansion. "Oh. Wow. Okay. Um. Don't do that."

"Can't help it — it's my mutation, and I like using it," Krissy said with a little shrug and a smile. "I'm Krissy."

"Liam," he said. "I…'m new."

"That's alright," Krissy said, smiling widely. "I've been here for a while; if you get lost, I can help."

"Oh, really?" Liam glanced up at her. "Because I still don't know where _anything _is."

"Yeah, most people get lost when they first come here," she said, nodding along as her tail swayed easily behind her while she was perched on the edge of the couch.

"Did you?"

She laughed and shook her head. "No, I grew up here."

"Like, in Salem Center?"

"No, I grew up _here_." She gestured around the room. "My dad's the drama teacher. My mom teaches English and archery."

"Oh." Liam tipped his head to the side. "Well… I don't have drama on my schedule."

"That's too bad, because it's the _best_," Krissy said, sticking her nose slightly in the air, but with an impish grin on. "You should go."

"Do you have drama?" he asked.

She paused, and even her tail stopped swaying. "We… can go together," she decided. "Yeah, I'll show you around!"

"Alright," Liam said, nodding and starting to smile himself. "When is your class?"

"Well," she said slowly, "you already got a schedule all figured out, right? Maybe you can just go with me to the one at the end of the day?"

"Alright," he said again, nodding and grinning. "I don't know how to get to the drama classroom, though."

"Don't worry," she assured him with a proud sort of grin as she teleported from one end of the couch to the other and then back. "I can find my way around anywhere easy enough. But you probably want to take the long way, huh?"

"Yeah, I think that would help me learn where it is," he said, laughing at her as she grinned widely.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" Krissy asked, smiling wider still.

"Yeah, for sure," he said, nodding quickly before she grinned and teleported back to where she had been sitting by Elin, humming to herself as she went back to her homework, tail swaying even more than before.

"So … how did it go?" Elin asked quietly.

"He doesn't know where anything is, so I promised to help him out," Krissy said, staring over at Liam, who kept glancing up at her and flushing when he saw that, yes, she was still looking his way.

"Tour guide," Elin sang softly.

"Cutest tour guide in the school," Krissy said without missing a beat.

"Of course," Elin agreed. "You should get a little uniform and an official title."

Krissy grinned over at Elin and pushed her in the shoulder. "Oh come on. He's cute. I like the stripes. They go right up to his nose."

"And get darker when he blushes," Elin said without looking up.

"I knew you were eavesdropping," Krissy said in a scandalized tone.

"Not like I can stop it," Elin replied, smirking. "You're so loud."

Krissy rolled her eyes and bumped shoulders with Elin. "Not everyone can be as understated and sneaky as you. Then the world would be so _bland_. Where would be the _drama_?"

"No idea," she said. "I'll just stay bland and boring, thanks."

Krissy laughed and reached over to give Elin a one-armed hugged. "You just stay exactly like you are," she teased. "_I _am going to give a tour. And I should probably tell Papa I want to join drama…"

"He'll like that," Elin decided, then paused. "Do it in German. He'll melt."

"You're an evil genius," Krissy giggled, giving Elin a kiss on the cheek before she teleported away to do just that, the giggles dissipating before the smoke did.

* * *

The next morning, as everyone was getting ready for the school day, Krissy was paying more attention to the older kids going to class than she was paying attention to her breakfast, her ears perked up as she watched for Liam.

When she finally spotted the red-striped boy, she grinned and teleported away from the table, reappearing with her backpack slung over her shoulder and a confident grin on her face. "Hey, Liam!"

"Hey, Krissy," he said with a small smile. "You headed to class too?"

She nodded. "Well, I can get anywhere in a second, so I don't really _have _to leave… but maybe I could walk with you?"

This time, Krissy noticed when his stripes got a little darker, and she turned a slightly darker purple too as he nodded. "Sure, alright. I'm just going to science."

"Me too," Krissy said before she could stop herself, and then got a little irritated with her tail when it started twitching slightly.

"Great!" Liam grinned at her. "It'll be nice to know somebody there."

Krissy grinned brilliantly at him as they headed down the halls, though she had to admit that she was praying so, so hard that Hank wouldn't totally bust her out as she sat down in the seat next to Liam, who was still talking with her about the different classes he had and how he probably hadn't seen her because he was so nervous about his first day, so he was sorry about that.

"No, no, it's okay," she said quickly, turning even deeper purple than before. Her tail was till twitching behind her when Hank came in to start the class, and she tried very hard to look like she was supposed to be there — while also doing everything she could not to meet Hank's gaze in case he was giving her the look that meant she was _so _busted.

But to her surprise, Hank didn't say anything to her. Or try to send her back to Annie's class. He simply went on with his lecture about the structure of atoms, and the longer he talked, the more Krissy felt the relief pool in her ankles.

Except then she realized that Liam would probably be expecting to see her in science class _tomorrow _too, and that had her tail twitching all over again.

But… it was a fun class, really. And not just because Liam was in it with her, though it was really fun to get to sit by him all of class, especially when Hank divided them up in partners to work on atomic diagrams.

By the time class was over, Krissy was grinning to herself, walking alongside Liam as they talked about science and he asked her where the math class was. "Oh, I can take you there," she promised quickly, still enjoying talking with him as they headed down the hall.

She definitely liked Liam, she decided the more they talked together. He was from Kansas, which he said was "pretty flat" compared to Westchester, and he wasn't much for climbing trees, but he did love to swim and had a good creek near the back of his parents' house that he would swim in. She was so wrapped up in the story he was telling about the first tornado he'd ever seen that she didn't even noticed they'd gotten to Scott's math class until they were at the door.

"Aren't you gonna be late for your other class?" he asked. "I mean, I know you can teleport and all…"

She blushed furiously and looked over his shoulder to the kids filing into class. "Oh, um. Where do you want to sit?"

He tipped his head to the side at her and then smiled. "I sat in the back last time."

"Okay, let's sit there," she said quickly, grabbing him by the arm and halfway dragging him through the door and almost _daring _Scott to say something about it when she looked his way with her chin thrust out.

But thankfully, Scott didn't say anything to her — at least not in front of the class. But he did call her up when the kids were working on practice problems with a serious sort of look on his face as her tail was twitching all over again.

"Krissy, this class isn't a social call," Scott told her quietly.

"I know," she said, her hands clasped in front of her. "I'll do the homework, I promise."

Scott shook his head lightly. "This isn't about the homework. If you want to come to these classes, you need to talk to your parents first — and then come find me so we can draw up a _real _schedule for you."

"Can… can I have science and math first? Because I really like Dr. Fuzzy's class," Krissy said, trying to win him over with her very best smile.

He gave her a dry look. "We'll have to look at what classes you need to be taking," he said. "You don't need to be in something above your head."

"I understood atoms just _fine_, thanks," she said, sticking her chin out with a little sniff.

"That's not the point and you know it," Scott said softly. "This is just a warning. You're going to want to go back to your _own _classes after this one."

Krissy stuck her lower lip out in a pout. "But I already missed most of the morning."

"Don't go to his next class," Scott told her. "You'll thank me for it later."

Krissy scrunched up her shoulders, sure that he was just giving her flack because she hadn't actually told anybody she was going to class except her dad. So at least there was that. But she went back to her seat and attacked the math problems with particular vigor, just to _show _that she _could _keep up in class, thankyouverymuch.

"Did you get in trouble?" Liam asked quietly over her shoulder, and she looked up at him with a glare for a second before she quickly shook her head.

"No. Not really," she said. "I just… " She blew her bangs out of her face. "It doesn't really matter. He just wanted to talk about my schedule."

Liam tipped his head to the side and then finally nodded before going back to his own work, though when they hit the hallways again and he saw that she was looking fairly determined, he had to ask, "Seriously, are you in trouble or… did I make you mad or something?"

"No," she said, shaking her head again. And just to prove it, she grabbed his arm and linked arms with him. "C'mon. Let's go to class."

"O...kay," Liam said, watching her from the corner of his gaze as they walked down. "Umm. History?"

"Alright, yes. Good. Let's go to history," Krissy said, still sounding perfectly determined. She led the way down to Logan's class and sat down primly beside Liam, hands folded in her lap.

"This isn't your class," Logan said, only looking up at her after he'd said it.

She glared at him for calling her out publicly and turned bright purple. "Well, it is now," she said, sticking her chin out.

"No," Logan replied. "It's not."

She could feel several other eyes on her as she struggled not to turn any deeper purple — she was almost maroon like Kade. "It — it's not like it _matters_. History's the same."

"Makes a huge difference on which lecture you get," Logan shot back, holding her gaze with a perfectly straight face. "And I don't think you're ready for this lecture."

She shrank in on herself. "Fine," she muttered quietly before she disappeared in a poof of purple, though she didn't go back to Annie's class either, still too mortified to face that. She hadn't ever skipped class before, but she did like being on the roof, so she teleported up there and made a few snow angels, watched the riding class, and generally tried to make the rest of the school day go by as fast as she could. Which was surprisingly slow when she was mad and trying to waste time.

When the last classes were out, she finally straightened herself out and teleported inside, since at _least _she could go to drama and that would be fun. But when she got there, she saw her father talking with Logan — and she totally would have teleported away again if her dad hadn't spotted her first.

He didn't say anything to start with; instead, he gave her a stern look and tipped his head, gesturing for her to come over. She very slowly made her way over, all but dragging her feet, then tried for her very best smile. "_Guten tag, Papa_," she said.

"I think you know you're in deep trouble, _Prinzessin,_" Kurt said before he let his voice drop lower. "What were you up to today?"

She scuffed her feet against the floor and bit her lip. "I … I was just gonna help show the new boy how to get to class, but I liked Hank's class, so… I stayed," she told the floor more than Kurt.

"You know better than to skip your own classes," he pointed out.

"I know," she said, still looking at the floor. "But I liked the classes I was in!" She glanced up at Kurt. "I can keep up. I _can_."

Kurt frowned. "If that's the case, then I'm sure Scott can make you a schedule … of your own."

Krissy opened her mouth to argue and then closed it again, looking back down at the ground. "But I _like _the classes I was going to," she muttered sullenly.

"Then we should see if you still like them when you're in them _without _the boy," Kurt countered.

"But _Papa_," she said with her lower lip poked out.

"Krissy," Kurt said, sounding sterner. "These classes aren't about anything but learning _the subject._"

"Kids flirt in class all the time. I _see _them, and so does Charlie."

"Yes, but they don't get to choose their schedule based on a boy," Kurt pointed out.

She let out all her breath and let her shoulders drop. "Fine," she grumbled. "But I still wanna go. I don't want L- I don't want to be in the little kid classes anymore."

"Krissy, you were going to start classes in the fall anyway," Kurt said.

Krissy looked down at her feet. "Yeah, but … I can keep up. I know I can."

"We'll have to ask Annie about that," Kurt decided.

Krissy let out a sigh. "Fine," she muttered. "Can I go now?"

"To speak with Annie? Yes. Yes, you may," Kurt replied, resting his hand on her shoulder to steer her.

Krissy was totally miserable as Kurt led her down to where Annie was, and Annie for her part had the most perfect stern teacher expression Krissy had ever seen, which was really not helping her at all.

"Krissy, you didn't come to class today," Annie told her, looking and sounding every bit disappointed as Krissy's shoulders slumped.

"I … went to the bigger kids' classes," she said quietly.

"Not all day," Annie said with one raised eyebrow. "Where did you go after history?"

"I… didn't…" Krissy stared down at the floor.

"No, you didn't," Annie said severely. "You know better than that, Krissy. I _know _your parents raised you better than that."

Krissy kept turning a darker and darker shade of purple as she scrunched up her shoulders, totally mortified by how the day had turned out.

"She thinks she's ready for the older kids' classes," Kurt prompted. "I thought we should speak with you before we go changing her schedule."

Annie raised both eyebrows and turned toward Krissy. "If she wants to go to the classes at the school, she needs to get her grades up first. She gets distracted in class, and I know she can do better, but—" She looked at Krissy squarely. "If you can't keep up in my class, you won't be able to keep up in the older kids' classes."

Krissy shrank further into herself, feeling like the day couldn't get any worse. "Yes ma'am," she said very quietly.

Kurt put his hand on Krissy's shoulder, and she glanced up at him to see that he still looked incredibly stern. "And you will apologize to Annie for skipping her classes today," he told her.

"I'm sorry, Miss Annie," Krissy said quietly.

Annie sighed and very gently put a hand on Krissy's arm. "Just don't do it again. You only have to wait a few more months, honey. Don't get ahead of yourself."

Krissy muttered a very quiet 'okay' as Kurt steered her out toward their suite and informed her in no uncertain terms that she was grounded, which was the cherry on top of a very bad day.

* * *

Krissy didn't see Liam again until she was headed down to breakfast, and she was so completely embarrassed by how everything had gone down that she immediately teleported out of his line of sight when she spotted him, appearing down at the kitchen table a deep purple shade that only got deeper when she saw Logan at the end of the table reading his newspaper. She glared his way and stalked over to the counter to grab some pancakes before teleporting away again. She did _not _want to talk to him. Ever.

So she ended up in the dining room at the far end of the table glaring at her pancakes, decidedly not all that hungry and still totally mortified over the whole situation — so much so that she didn't even notice when Elin sat down by her until she was right there.

"Are you not feeling very well?" Elin asked quietly.

Krissy let out a sigh and let her shoulders slump. "I just had a really crummy day yesterday, okay?" she muttered. "Pretty much the worst ever."

"What happened?" Elin asked, pushing the syrup Krissy's way.

"Your dad happened," Krissy grumbled, absently making patterns with the syrup.

"He didn't say anything …"

"Well, he totally blew it for me yesterday," Krissy said, still with a little glare. "I was just… I went with Liam to class, and he _told my dad_."

Elin tipped her head to the side and glanced down to where her parents were with Malin. "Why were you going to class with Liam?"

Krissy let out a long sigh. "I didn't _mean _to — I mean, not to start. We were just talking, and I was showing him how to get to Hank's class, and the next thing I know, I'm _in _Hank's class. And I know it was stupid, but Hank seemed alright with it, and — and Scott even said he'd talk to Mama and Papa about classes. But then _your dad _just… blew the whole thing. Right in front of everyone. The whole class."

"He doesn't like when people try to be sneaky," Elin said with a smirk.

"Well, I was doing just _fine,_ and it's not like we're not starting school in a few months anyway, so it wasn't even a big _deal _until he embarrassed me in front of Liam and everyone like I was just… some kid," Krissy grumbled, pushing around a bite of pancake with her fork.

"But you _are,_" Elin pointed out. "What's wrong with that?"

"It's just… Liam's _eleven,_ and I don't want him to think I'm just… some…" Krissy let out a noise of frustration and threw her hands in the air. "It doesn't matter anyway, because he probably thinks I'm the biggest loser in school now."

"It does matter," Elin said. "And would the biggest loser in school be able to get away with going to … how many classes with the teachers not talking?"

"Well, just the one. Scott made me come up to his desk," Krissy admitted sullenly.

"I … don't understand why you'd want to be anyone other than who you are," Elin said quietly.

"I don't!" Krissy said quickly, shaking her head. "I just want to be… me. But older."

Elin nodded and set her fork down. "Then we wouldn't be in classes together."

Krissy frowned. "I… didn't really think about that," she admitted.

"I mean, if you want to be older just to be older … fine. But if you want to ditch me for some boy …"

But Krissy was already shaking her head at the suggestions. "No way. I _need _my best friend." She smiled a bit as her tail finally started to move from where it had been sullenly hanging on the floor the whole time. "You gotta help me pick out cute dresses for cute boys," she teased lightly.

"I'll help you pick out cute dresses for _you_," Elin said. "But I'm not going to ever do anything to make you cuter for a boy."

"Fine," Krissy said with a little shrug before she leaned over to pull Elin into a hug. "Thanks, Ellie."

"Anytime," Elin replied, resting her head on Krissy's shoulder.

Krissy finally started to put a few bites of pancake in her mouth before she added, "Oh, and I am _so _grounded. For, like, pretty much ever."

"You'll be ungrounded soon," Elin said. "Quicker if you behave."

"Like _that's _gonna happen," Krissy said with a little smirk. "I _am _part-demon."

"It just takes a little effort," Elin said, shaking her head at her.

"Oh, don't mind her. She uses that excuse for everything," Chance said as he came to sit down by the girls. "Cheats in tag… part-demon. Teasing Sying… part-demon."

"I know. She likes to skip over how very _good _her half-demon dad is too," Elin said.

"Hey, he says it has to come out sometimes," Krissy defended with her lip poked out.

"Sometimes. Not all the time," Elin said.

"So, what're you blaming on your evil grandpa today?" Chance asked as he scooted the syrup over to where he was.

"I… got grounded," Krissy muttered.

"No way." Chance looked up at her. "For what?"

"For getting busted for following a boy to class," Elin said.

"Was he cute?"

Elin shrugged as Krissy turned a deeper shade of purple. "Maybe."

"That's not so bad," Chance decided. "It just means you had a crush."

"That got crushed," Elin said with a little smirk.

"Thanks for that, really," Krissy muttered.

Chance reached over and patted Krissy on the shoulder. "You know, it's alright. If he likes you, he'll get over it."

"He'll probably be flattered," Elin said.

"Yeah, if a cute girl followed _me _to class, I'd think it was pretty sweet," Chance agreed, nodding along.

"Yeah, but you flirt with everyone," Krissy pointed out with her nose wrinkled up.

Chance shrugged. "Not everyone," he said.

"Um … yes you do," Elin said. "Anyone even halfway pretty gets flirted with."

Chance blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I ... I mean, it's not like anyone's flirted _back _so far… so … I keep trying."

"So … maybe just flirt with the ones you actually _like_," Elin said.

"Okay." Chance looked up at Elin with a crooked grin. "You know something, El, you're cute."

"You don't have to make _fun _of me," she replied.

"I wasn't making fun — I was flirting!" Chance pointed out.

She let out a little laugh and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Okay then."

"What, you think I need help?" Chance asked, shaking his head at her, though he couldn't keep up his crooked grin. "I thought I was pretty good at flirting."

"You are," she said.

He let out a long breath and shook his head at her. "Yeah, well. It hasn't worked yet."

"What are you talking about? Why do you say that?" Elin asked.

Chance shrugged up both shoulders. "Like I said, nobody's flirting back," he said. "And I _know _I'm cuter than Brian, but…" He held out both hands, palms up, to show how ridiculous he felt the situation was.

"You really are," she agreed. "Maybe she's just stupid."

"Maybe," he agreed with a little sigh.

She bumped his shoulder with hers. "Western movies a little later if you don't have anyone better to hang out with."

"You kidding?" He laughed. "I wouldn't miss it."

Krissy shook her head at both of them. "Okay, well, you guys have fun." She held up both of her hands. "I'm _so _grounded. Maybe in a couple weeks, _ja_?"

"_Ja,_" Elin agreed. "And we'll watch Errol Flynn when you get ungrounded."

Krissy grinned outright at that. "And this is why you're my best friend," she said, kissing Elin's cheek before she disappeared in a poof of purple with her empty plate.


	11. Magnetic Pull

**Chapter 11: "Magnetic Pull"**

Hank was settled in for the evening with Daisy, enjoying a quiet night, when his phone rang with a most unexpected caller. He sat up straighter when he saw the name attached to the number and tried hard to hide his curiosity when he answered. "May," Hank said, glancing toward Daisy. "What's on your mind? Is there some sort of trouble?"

"Yes, there is," May Parker said, and though she was speaking clearly, it was obvious she was upset. "I don't think I can call any other doctor for him — Erik isn't conscious — things are floating—"

"Floating ... " Hank paused, frowning deeply. "I'll be right there." He hung up the phone and turned to Daisy. "I believe our old friend is in trouble."

Daisy nodded, putting a hand on his arm. "Do you want me to call Kurt? We can get there faster…"

"I think that would be best," Hank agreed. "And Jolie would like to be with the other children in the meantime."

Daisy kissed his cheek. "I'll send him down to you," she promised, scooping up Jolie on her way to find Kurt — and it was only a few moments later that Kurt appeared in the lab looking worried.

"What's happened?"

"I'll reserve judgement until I can examine him, but Erik is unconscious." Hank picked up a black bag and strode over to Kurt. "And things are floating."

Kurt raised both eyebrows. "Ah," he said simply before he put a hand on Hank's shoulder, and the two of them appeared a moment later in May's house — where, indeed, anything metal-lined was at least a few inches in the air from wherever it had previously been.

Hank rushed over and did a quick preliminary exam, shaking his head lightly. "We need more tests," he said. "But I think he's likely had another stroke."

May was seated on the couch nearby with her hands folded underneath her chin and worry clearly painted over her face. "I know he's had them before, but it's been some time," she said, though it was with a resigned sort of sigh. After all, neither of them had any illusions about their own ages when they got married.

Hank looked between Kurt and May. "I'll send for you momentarily," Hank replied to May, then turned back to Kurt. "I'd like to get Tyler to the Institute immediately."

Kurt simply nodded at that, crouching down beside Hank so that he could first teleport himself and Hank and Erik back to Westchester before he disappeared before the smoke had even fully cleared, plucking Tyler out of the Chicago school and a conversation with Peter Quill to get him there.

As soon as Tyler saw the situation at hand, he shook off the smoke, and he and Hank skipped the notion of conventional testing as Tyler simply got to work.

Last of all, Kurt went back to Queens to get May Parker, and when he reappeared with her, he kept a hand on her shoulder as he guided her through the lab — though she wasn't the mess he had quite expected. In fact, she was fairly practical about it as she looked between Tyler and Hank. "Well?"

"It was definitely another stroke," Tyler said, though he was apparently done with whatever he had started. "And I did as much reversal of damage that I could … but it's not exactly an injury."

"You were able to help him through the effects of the first," Kurt said with a small frown.

"He was a little younger then," Tyler said almost sheepishly. "His personality shouldn't be changed at all … but he might have some other issues pop up. He's slowing down."

But May was already shaking her head. "We can deal with that," she said, waving her hand. "As long as he's still himself, the rest is just window dressing."

Tyler let out a little sigh and crossed the span of space to May and paused for just an instant before he gave her a little hug. "You're really something special, you know?"

She smiled at him as she returned the hug. "I've been around for a while," she teased.

"If you're going to be here for a while, we can send down some short cheer," Kurt offered.

"Please," May said, settling herself down with a small smile. "And would you please make sure that Lorna and those sweet kids know? I'll tell Peter and Sara. They should be aware."

"I'll make the calls myself," Hank said before he looked up at Kurt. "Tommy and Billy should know."

"Of course," Kurt said, perfectly serious as he disappeared.

And it was clear the moment Kurt had told Tommy as well, because the white-haired former Young Avenger didn't need to be teleported to get down to the lab in a second, breaking one of the hinges on the door as he skidded in, looking totally wide-eyed.

"Is he okay?" he blurted out, completely abandoning his usual play-it-cool attitude and looking openly worried.

"He should be," Hank replied. "He's resting."

Tommy let out a breath of relief as May gently put her hand on his arm to pull him to a seat close by her. "Oh man," he muttered quietly.

"I know," May said gently, still resting her hand on his arm. "It's alright. It took us all by surprise — but that's how these things work, as I understand it."

Tommy nodded at that, and May gently pulled his head over to rest on her shoulder as there was a little flash of light nearby and Billy appeared — with Lorna.

"She can't travel as fast as we can," Billy explained to Hank with a small smile as Lorna frowned the moment she saw Erik laid out in the bed.

"He'll be alright," May assured Lorna quickly.

Lorna looked between Hank and Tyler — and then May and Tommy — before she simply shook her head and moved to sit on the other side of Erik from May and Tommy.

"He really will be," Billy said, though that hadn't stopped him from looking worried. "What I mean is — well. I don't see him dying."

"Shut up, Billy, you're not helpful, Know-it-all," Tommy muttered with a little smirk.

Billy shrugged and gave the smirk right back to his brother, though since there was no imminent threat, eventually, the worry level in the room started to subside, and the little group started to break up, waiting for Erik to recover so they could see what the damage was.

But for the moment, that meant that May had found her way upstairs to the living room in time to see Kaleb and Sadie rocket past, running out the door to go play together and getting a little laugh out of May. The oldest kids were still in classes, though the Kindergarten kids had let out to play, and the tiniest of the group were enjoying themselves.

Kade was sitting in Kate's lap and pretending he wasn't ready for a nap, and K had little Malin, who was wide awake and watching the maroon elfling try valiantly to stay awake even though his head was drooping on Kate's shoulder.

"Do you mind if I join you?" May asked with a small smile.

"Please," K replied, still smirking at the little smile Malin was giving her.

May sat down next to K, leaning over her shoulder to smile at the little one.

"Would you like to hold her for a little while?" K asked. "She's been pretty friendly this morning."

"Yes, please," May said, smiling lightly as K gently handed Malin to her, and her shoulders instantly dropped as she immediately fell in love with the little girl.

"You should send a picture of that to Peter," Kate teased K quietly.

"Already done," K told her. "Of Steve holding her too."

"That man needs to hurry up and make an honest woman of Sharon," Kate laughed.

"He's on his own timetable," K replied. "Leave him alone."

Kate waved her hand. "If you say so. But you know I can't leave him alone, right? He's _Steve_. I've been bothering him since I was sixteen."

"I know, but … you know. He's just … Steve. He'll figure it out sooner or later."

Kate laughed and nodded at that, though when Kade let out a little yawn and sigh and finally started to give in to the tiredness, she was quieter and focused on making sure that Kade didn't wake back up now that he was finally drifting.

"Do you need a blanket?" K offered, already out of her chair and headed for Kate's bag.

"Please," Kate agreed in a whisper, and as the little elfling snuggled in, K gently draped the blanket over his back, very nearly covering his whole head.

"You two have this whole thing down," May said with a smile.

"Been through it enough times," K said dryly.

Kate nodded at that. "Yep. But _I _am aging out," she teased K's way. "Only good thing about being called your big sister."

"Yeah, don't remind me," K replied, taking both of their mugs to the kitchen for more coffee. "What's your pleasure, May? Coffee or tea?"

"Tea, please," she said with a smile. "I like coffee if it's too much trouble, but Erik and I have been having Earl Gray every morning."

"No trouble at all," K promised. "How's he doing this morning, by the way?"

May let out a sigh. "That… is why I'm here. Hank and Tyler said that he had another stroke," she said frankly. "That sweet boy helped to heal what he could, but as he explained it, he only heals injury, not age or disease."

"If he's doing better, you can bring him some tea," K suggested. "It'll perk him right up, I'm sure."

"That's not a bad idea," May said with a warm smile.

"Elin will help you if you want a hand," K continued. "She adores him."

"The feeling is entirely mutual," May said, still smiling as she stood up gently, following K toward the kitchen and still shooting Malin little smiles. "You don't want to come?"

"I … think I should wait," K said, almost holding her breath as she answered her.

May frowned for a moment before it clicked for her. "Right. Did Hank tell you about what happened at our house?"

"I was going to come down earlier this morning, and he warned me, yes," K said.

"Yes, I guess being filled with metal isn't the safest experience around him," May said with a sigh. "We'll just have to see. He's never had issues like this before."

"He's always got a bit of a 'pull' to him anyhow," K told her. "I just don't want to risk a 'yank'."

"I understand." May let out a breath. "Hopefully, this was just a passing issue. He should be fine, according to Tyler, and like I said, he's never had issues before…"

"Hank said the same thing — and to give him a little time. Just a few days, then Logan will go see him," K said. "He's being a pain and insists on going first."

"Well, it's natural to want to protect the ones you love," May said with a warm smile her way as they got to the kitchen and got the tea started.

"No, I'm pretty sure he's being a pain."

"It's also natural to keep him on his toes," May said, this time with a twinkle in her eyes. She tickled Malin gently as they waited for the tea, still smiling.

"I may have to try that out," K agreed.

May chuckled at that, still enamored with the tiny Howlett before K waved Elin over to help bring down the tea. May gently handed Malin back to K with a small sigh. "She's wonderful, really," she said. "And thank you."

"I'm a little partial to her myself," K agreed before she gave May a quick kiss on the cheek. "Let Erik know I'll be by to see him as soon as I can."

"I will," May promised before she and Elin headed downstairs to where Erik was still laid up — and was looking distinctly displeased with the fact that he _was _laid up. Though the expression softened a bit when he saw his visitors.

"Hello, Elin," he said with a smile.

"_Dzień dobry_!" she sang back to him. "We brought tea for you."

He was smiling as soon as he heard her greeting and sat up straighter, still looking far more pleased as he waved them over and both May and Elin sat down nearby. "Earl gray — thank you," he said, smiling at both of the girls.

Elin set the little tray down and made a point to climb up to give him a hug, which Erik returned warmly, though he was obviously stronger on the right side than the left. It wasn't quite that he couldn't move his left arm or pull it around her, but it had very little strength to it. And unlike before, he wasn't pulling on his powers to compensate — though for now, it was simply because he was too tired.

"Would you like me to pour your tea?" Elin asked.

"_Tak proszę," _he said with a smile.

She climbed back down and started to arrange things for both him and May while May settled in, smiling sedately to herself as she watched Elin take care of both of them.

* * *

It had been a couple weeks since the stroke when K brought Elin and Charlie over for Sunday afternoon tea with Erik and May. It was no secret that the girls were Erik's favorites at the school, and they adored him in turn, so now that he had recovered a bit, they were glad for the chance to visit again and to return to that tradition.

When Erik greeted them at the door, it was clear he was just as thrilled to see them. He waved them inside, and the limp was only slightly pronounced with the beautiful cane that he had been using since he got a little bit of strength back.

"Why don't you two tell me about your classes," Erik said, still smiling as May helped set out the cups and the trays for tea and her homemade cookies.

"I still really like Miss Daisy's music class," Charlie said, grinning as she sat down and May handed her a cookie. "Thank you, Miss May."

"You're very welcome," May said, smiling as she sat down with the group.

"And you, Elin?" Erik asked over the top of his cup.

"They're fine," she said politely.

"You'll like next year's better," Charlie promised. "If you want, you can take music with me. Or drama with Kurt and Krissy…"

"I don't know that I'd be any good at either of those," she said.

"You're good at horseback riding," Charlie reasoned. "And archery."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "I'll probably do those."

"Chance is doing those," Charlie said. "He loves them. And Krissy's doing archery, obviously."

"Of course," Elin said, nodding. "But Chance likes all of his extra classes. And Krissy would rather do archery and drama than anything else."

"It's genetic," Charlie said with a smirk. "On both accounts."

"It is," she agreed with a little smile.

The two girls chatted back and forth about classes for a while before Charlie ended up telling Erik about her friend Paul, which set off a whole new discussion of how he was _okay _but she didn't know what to do about him having a crush on her, because "I don't think I like him, and I've checked plenty of times."

May smiled at Charlie sweetly. "Then it sounds like you have a very good friend," she said. "There's nothing wrong with friendship, Charlie."

While they were chatting, nothing seemed amiss until, very suddenly, K frowned and realized that she simply couldn't move. She was sure that it was just a fluke thing that would pass, and the last thing she wanted to do was draw undue attention to a passing thing, but when she felt herself starting to float …. "Erik," K said quietly.

Erik looked up at her from where he had been totally engrossed in listening to Charlie describe the way she distinguished between her own feelings and others'. He seemed surprised at her expression for a moment before he realized what was happening, and K felt the magnetic release as she touched back down and could move more easily.

"Would you like me to make some fresh tea?" K asked, skipping over the little episode as quickly as she could.

"Please," May said with a warm smile her way, though Erik was watching her with a concerned expression.

"I won't be long," K replied, giving May a smile as she got up and crossed the room.

As she brewed the new kettle of tea, she heard the scrape of the door behind her as Erik made his way in as well, leaning against the counter as he frowned at her.

"I thought I'd bring the honey out with me," K said, still ignoring the frown he was wearing. "Elin won't say it, but she likes just a touch of it."

Erik nodded softly. "K," he said. "It wasn't directed."

"I figured as much," she replied. "I'm not overly concerned." She gave him a little smile. "I just had to bring it to your attention."

He still looked fairly disturbed by the whole thing as he went to the cabinet to get the honey down. "You will tell me if it happens again."

"Of course," K agreed, nodding his way as the kettle whistled.

"Preferably _before _you begin to move outside of your own accord."

"I … didn't think it would go that far," K admitted as she poured the water over the tea bags.

Erik let out a sigh as he shook his head at her. "K… I'm getting old," he said with a wry smile. "I cannot hold myself up like I used to." He gestured at the cane he had in one hand. "As much as it pains me to admit it, I think we must agree: my abilities have been affected."

"It's probably normal at this stage of things," she agreed before she crossed the kitchen to give him a quick kiss on the cheek just to make her point. "We'll keep an eye on it."

"I'll speak to May as well."

"It'll be fine, Erik," K told him. "You're recovering beautifully, whether you want to hear it or not. This … was an unforeseen circumstance."

"Still," Erik said, straightening up slightly. "Please accept my apologies. I wasn't aware — but I will be more aware from now on. I would hate for you to be affected by my own advanced age," he added, this time with a small smile.

"Already forgotten," she replied before she gave his arm a squeeze and headed over to pull the tea bags. "I think the girls have waited long enough, don't you?"

Erik smiled at that and stepped around K to hold the door open for her. "After you."

Translations (From Polish)

_Dzień dobry - _Good morning

_Tak proszę _\- Yes, please


	12. Foreign Invaders

**Chapter 12: "Foreign Invaders" **

It was almost the end of March when Scott got the word from Betsy that the international legal work had finally been approved for their proposal for a school, and once everything was signed and checked over by both Matt Murdock and Jenny Walters to be sure, that meant that it was almost like a late April Fool's joke to Mac's view when he saw the announcement go live that there would be an international campus for mutants.

It would still be another couple of years before it would start accepting students, but construction was set to begin in the next few months.

The announcement made it clear that this would be the place that kids who wanted to grow up to be heroes could train so that Westchester could become more specialized, but considering the fact that Canada had branded itself an international hero training school, it was a little hard for him to swallow.

And Scott… wasn't entirely surprised when he saw a call come in from Mac shortly after the announcement of the campus.

"What the hell, Summers," Mac said in lieu of a greeting when Scott answered his phone.

"Hi, Mac," Scott said, shaking his head. "What can I do for you?"

"You can maybe tell me why you're willing to put up another freakin' school when I can't even get you to take a peek at this one," he replied. "I thought … well I don't know what the hell I thought when you said we'd cooperate with each other."

"I was just out there in the fall," Scott pointed out. "And I still give my students the option of going to your campus if that's what they decide. We _needed _another campus."

"Oh come on," Mac said, entirely dejected sounding.

"We did," Scott said firmly. "We're spending too much time here teaching basic fighting. We can't put these kids in the field as-is. We need a training school so we can specialize here."

"Do you even mention our branch?"

"I do," Scott said, with a bit of heat. "We've talked about this before, Mac. You know any of the schools show newcomers the different campuses available to them." He took a deep breath. "That's not changing. This European campus is essentially going to do what we're doing here in Westchester, and we're taking the top graduates to give them that final training — combat, tactics, the things they need to be heroes that we _can't teach _if we're teaching basics."

"You and Logan you mean," Mac said flatly. "Cherry-picking the kids you want."

"You've seen the applications, Mac. You know practically every kid that comes through thinks they want to be a hero. We can't train all of them."

"So direct some our way," Mac said. "You know I'm doing everything I can to look out for them myself. And what I can't do, Heather does."

"I know," Scott said. "And I won't stop giving kids the option to go to your campus. I know you and Heather have put your hearts into these students." He sighed. "But even if you were handling all of the training, there are too many kids who want to try to be heroes for one campus. I'm telling you, we need a middle ground. Something between a normal school and the specialized hero training."

There was a long pause on the other end of the line as Mac weighed it out. "I'm not dirty, Scott."

"I think if you listen to anything I've said, you'll know I've never once called you dirty." Scott shook his head. "Just… check your texts when you get home."

"Yeah?" Mac said, not sounding like he believed Scott was doing anything at all. "What will I find?"

"Well, for one thing, Malin's got the hang of laughing…" Scott couldn't help but smile.

There was a disbelieving little laugh from the other end of the line. "You're kidding me."

"Just check your texts, Mac," Scott said, shaking his head.

"Are they from you?" Mac asked. "Or has the ice age thawed finally?"

"They're not from me."

"Alright," Mac said with a sigh. "Do me a favor and hit him for me would you?"

"Right, because that's a favor to _you_."

"It might be," Mac said, the smile evident in his voice.

"Talk to you later, Hudson," Scott said, smirking to himself.

* * *

When Mac finally did get around to his texts, along with a few pictures of Malin with an obviously genetic troublemaking look on her face, there were a few notes — coded out. That was fairly typical of a message from Logan that was anything but teasing.

It took Mac and Heather almost half an hour to work through what it said, and both of them stared at the list of names on the school's roster that were dirty — and previous Weapon X administrators that somehow managed to slip through the cracks.

When he responded to Logan's texts with a short "got it, thanks," the response was just as terse: "let Scott know when you do."

* * *

Tyler was helping one of the Chicago students who had gotten a little bit airsick during the space flight simulator Quill was running when he got another visitor — and it wasn't Lucy coming to take back her lab, either.

Instead, it was America, and she looked like she was ready to hit something as she stalked her way over and tossed something at him that he only belatedly realized was a pregnancy test. "Okay, so I did it."

He glanced between her and the test before gingerly setting it down and turning back to her. "Congratulations," he said with a quiet smile.

"This is the _worst_," she told him, dropping into a seat and looking every bit the miserable pregnant woman with her head tipped back. "This is why I like _girls_."

"Do you want me to … you know. Check on things?"

"Ugh. _Yes_."

He pulled up a chair next to her and offered her his hand. "No pokes and sticks. I'll leave that to Lucy."

"She did this to me. I blame her."

"Yeah, I caught that part," Tyler said, smirking to himself as she took his hand and he closed his eyes. It took no time at all before he let her hand go and he straightened up a little bit. "All is well; I can check out the date for you … just give me a minute." He dug through a drawer and picked up a little wheel, fiddled with it and then looked up with a genuine smile. "Middle of January. Date on the wheel says the 17th, but … first timers usually go past it. Sorry in advance."

"Yeah. Sounds about right," America grumbled. "This is the _worst_." She leaned further back in her chair and closed her eyes. "Why did I agree to this?"

"I think it's because you love her," Tyler replied before he got up and looked through a cabinet, only to return with a bottle of vitamins. "Once a day every day as long as you can keep them down. How are you feeling, by the way? Outside of betrayed."

"Ugh. That's why I even took the test. It sucks." America picked her head up slightly to look at him. "Tell me the truth. If I'm this nauseous this early, does it mean she's getting my powers? Because that _might _make it worth it."

"Um … no," Tyler said, then he drew in a deep breath and took his seat again. "It really just means that everything is doing what it's supposed to, generally speaking."

"You're killing me."

"A couple months and it should lighten up a lot," Tyler promised. "First trimester is the worst, really."

"This whole. Thing. Sucks." She covered her face with both hands. "So hard."

"I know you're going to get tired of hearing it, but … it'll all be worth it. I promise." He shrugged his shoulders up, his hands clasped in front of him. "Normally I'd offer a hug, but I don't think you want that."

"Yeah, no. Good call on that one, alleycat." She made a face at him and then sat up a bit. "You'll do all this… doctor stuff, right? For me?"

"Do you _want _me to?" Tyler asked, his eyebrows as high on his head as possible.

"Uh, yeah. The other resident doctor _did this to me_," America pointed out, still looking as betrayed as she had when she came in.

Tyler started to nod slowly. "Ye-s," he said, looking almost uncomfortable himself for a moment. "But … there are a _lot _of exams well before you go into labor and a bunch during … not to mention the birth … gonna have to be down there to catch …"

"She… She _did this to me_," America insisted. "For years. And years. And this is her fault now. And she is _going _to get her hand broken. So yeah. You're on deck, Lifeguard."

"Alright," he agreed, nodding. "I'll do whatever you want me to, and if all goes well, we'll keep it as minimally invasive as possible."

"Good." She shook her head and then got to her feet. "This is just… so stupid."

"I am truly sorry," Tyler said. "Congratulations — and condolences. I suppose."

"Yeah. Well. Thanks. And… yeah." America brushed her hair back as she headed for the door. "See you 'round, doc."

"Yeah, see you soon. When you're not feeling quite so miserable over the next few days, come on back for the first round of blood tests, if you can."

"Believe it or not, I'm fine spilling a little blood."

"Oh, I'm sure," he said, then paused. "Wanna get it over with now so you can complain to her about that too? You know 'I just barely walked in the lab and now I'm a quart low' — that kind of thing?"

At that, America actually broke into a grin. "Ooh, I knew I picked the right doctor."

* * *

Kurt and Logan had taken over on the littlest kids for the evening, and K was finally getting a chance to stretch properly. So when she came up from the Danger Room and found Kate maniacally giggling over her phone, she had to investigate.

"What's so awesome that you missed a chance to run your silly sim with me?" K asked as she made her way over to Kate. "It now echos Clint's commentary with the busted up 'bro'. So much 'awwww blah, no.'"

Kate looked up at K. "Oh. We have to do that. For sure. But there is more important news." She held up her phone and waved it back and forth before she held it out to K.

"Ooh, another demon pregnancy! Mazel tov."

Kate rolled her eyes. "No, no. Not me. Check the sender."

K picked up the phone and looked a little closer. "Oh. You are shitting me."

Kate burst into laughter, shaking her head and unable to stop. "She's so. So mad."

"Well, she did get the lecture on how that happens right? I mean …"

"I think she figured she was safe. You know. Since she _did_ get the lecture."

"Um … safe until sperm was introduced. That was the missing element, after all." K stopped and looked up at her "Oooh, who's the dead man?"

Kate giggled delightedly. "Nobody we know."

"Another magic baby then, eh?" K said, nodding slowly. "So what does Big Daddy think about it?"

Kate was wiping tears from her eyes. "Oh, he loves it. He had nothing to do with it, but he loves it."

"That's the _official _story, of course … but when it comes out with a star-shaped birthmark on his left buttcheek, we'll all know the truth."

It took Kate a long moment to compose herself. "Well, as I understand it, they looked through different donors… found someone they thought would be cute with America's genes." But that didn't stop her from texting Billy, who immediately responded with several laughing emojis.

_Star-shaped birthmark. Got it. _

Kate grinned up at K, still holding her stomach, before she got to her feet. "Oh, that was an ab workout."

"Seriously, when is she due?" K asked.

"January," Kate said. "I already told her I'm coming when it happens. All the Young Avengers are."

"We'll babysit for you," K offered. "So you can properly welcome America's _firstborn _to the world."

"I seriously can't believe it."

"After they got started, I can't believe you can't believe it," K said. "She's still young, isn't she?"

"Two years younger than me," Kate said, shaking her head. "I just… still can't get over the idea of a tiny little America running around."

"Well, it's a fifty-fifty shot," K pointed out.

"True enough." Kate pocketed her phone and then grinned up at K. "Alright. I need to hear the Clint commentary now."

"You won't be breathing by the end of it," K promised. "All of his best shouted-out complaints … perfectly timed."

"Oh good. It seems to be the day for _fun_," Kate said, sliding her arm through K's as they headed off to the Danger Room.


	13. I Think They're Trying to Flirt

**Chapter 13: "I Think They're Trying to Flirt"**

It was a little bit of a mixed bag when it came to the end of the semester for the kids. Gerry had thoroughly enjoyed coming to Westchester every day — but he had a baseball team to play on over the summer, so he was excited for that. And the other kids were looking forward to summer activities: trips to Germany, camping and fishing, beachside fun, the whole nine yards.

But the end of the school year also meant that any of the kids that had families at home were going off for the summer, and that meant not only that Charlie said goodbye to Paul with a little smile and a warm hug but also that neither James nor Chance had to deal with the school bullies for several months.

Which meant that Chance was in a great mood when he caught up with Krissy and Elin when they were done with their classes.

"We should go _do _something," he said, grinning widely.

"Swimming?" Elin said.

Chance touched the side of his nose and pointed at Elin. "Yes, that," he agreed, nodding.

"Race you!" Krissy said with an impish grin before she simply disappeared with a _bamf_.

"_I _am going to go change first," Elin said.

Chance grinned. "Race you?" he offered, gesturing toward the stairs.

"If you have to," she replied, darting past him.

He let out a laugh and rushed after her, changing into his trunks as quickly as he could before sprinting down the stairs and out the door. By the time he got there, Krissy was already swimming in the pool, but he did beat Elin there — a combination of his suit being easier to get into and his legs being so much longer.

"What took you so long?" he called out teasingly when Elin did show up.

"Two-piece — twice as long," she shot back.

"You're both slowpokes," Krissy called out, climbing out of the pool and shaking out her hair as she headed for the diving board.

"Well we have to do this inconvenient thing called 'travelling'," Elin pointed out.

"That sounds atrocious," Krissy said airily, taking the ladder up.

"Not at all," Elin countered. "We get to see the roses on the way."

"I can see roses whenever I want," Krissy countered. And just to prove her point, she disappeared and reappeared with a rose from the garden that she tucked into her hair.

"Yeah, but how do you stop and smell them with all that smoke?" Chance teased.

"I happen to _like _the way my smoke smells."

"Well, you _are _part-demon," Chance shot back in a perfect imitation of the way she said that line.

She rolled her eyes at him and simply responded by teleporting just above the pool and swamping him in a splash.

"Dirty trick," Elin said. "Get her when she pops up?"

"Oh, absolutely," Chance agreed, grinning crookedly as the second Krissy popped up for air, she was attacked on either side by both of her friends — until it was an all-out war in the pool.

They didn't even notice that they had a new visitor until there was a little 'ahem,' and they looked over to see that Sying had come, standing there with a towel over his shoulder and a huge grin on his face.

"You guys started without me?" he teased.

"Krissy's fault," Elin said without missing a beat. "She was in a _rush._"

"I was," Krissy said, not sounding apologetic about it in the least as she waved Sying over. "Come on in. The water's only cold until you jump in it headfirst."

"Yeah, sure," Sying chuckled, shaking his head before he set his towel down and took a running leap to do a cannonball, grinning when he resurfaced and pushed the water and hair out of his eyes. "I would've been here sooner, but I was helping Mom and Dad get Ael all packed up and in the _Marvel_. But Dad said it was okay if I went ahead, since I already know where the pool is."

Elin swam right over and gave him a hug in greeting. "Nice splash."

Sying grinned and hugged her right back. "Thanks. It's more fun to splash in pools than in the ocean, because there's no current to fight back."

"And no sharks," Elin pointed out.

"Well, that too," Sying said, nodding. "Melody got stung by a jellyfish the other day, actually. It wasn't _bad, _but Ael was overly concerned. He's been reading all about the different jellyfish Earth has, you know…. _Anything _that lives in water."

"I prefer to be _on _the water, rather than in it," Krissy said with a little sniff.

"Right, and that's why you're swimming with us," Chance said, perfectly straight-faced.

Krissy let out a huff and then splashed Chance, which only started another splashing war between them as Sying shook his head and whispered to Elin, "That hasn't changed, then."

"It probably never will," she said, swimming away from the splash-fest.

"What about you?" Sying asked, following along. "You ready for summer?"

"Yes," she said seriously. "This was a boring year. And for you?"

"It was okay," Sying said with a shrug. "Dad's shown me how to pilot a ship on my own. And mom's been working with me on the plasmoids."

"That's got to be fun," she said. "Having things to do like that. I've just been trying to not get in the middle of too much … stuff."

"Like what?" Sying asked, perfectly open.

"Everyone has their own scents," she said. "And when there are too many people together, it's hard to focus on anything. And everything is still pretty loud."

"Oh, yeah, I get that," Sying said, nodding seriously. "At least… the hearing part. I don't think people realize how loud they are."

"They definitely don't," she agreed.

"But you'll get used to it," Sying assured her. "It was hard when I was young and everything was just so… _much_."

"The other thing is all the _lies _people have been telling," she said, rubbing her nose just thinking about it. "That really stinks — and _so many _kids were lying all the time. But that should back off a lot now."

"Well, what are they lying about?" Sying asked with a frown.

"They were lying about their assignments and tests and reports and things … stupid stuff like that."

"Well, then, yeah, now that school's over, that should stop," Sying nodded his agreement as Krissy and Chance came swimming back over, sniping at each other over who had won their splashing contest.

"So are you staying out here for the summer?" Chance asked Sying.

"A lot of it, yeah," Sying nodded. "I'm not going to school here until _next _year, once Ael starts Kindergarten." He leaned forward with a smile. "He's going to try to go to school the normal way. He's really smart, but he spends all his time reading about oceans and not school things."

"That's okay; Krissy spends all her time reading about pirates," Elin pointed out before she leaned back to float.

"Because they're _amazing_," Krissy said, sticking her nose in the air with a _hmph_.

"They are," Sying assured her quickly. "I was reading about some pirates in the South China Sea and they were _brutal_."

"See?" Krissy said Elin's way. "Sying likes pirates too."

"Well, of course he does," Elin said as if it was perfectly common knowledge.

"He's almost as dramatic as you are," Chance agreed, nodding along.

"That has nothing to do with being a pirate," Krissy argued.

"Really?" Elin asked. "Smoking beards, giant velvet coats, and giant hats aren't dramatic?"

Chance nodded along with Elin again. "Not to mention the rigging. C'mon, El. The rigging alone."

"And the weird phrases," she continued. "And the overly colorful pets … bright parrots …"

"Talking birds. Pretty dramatic," Chance laughed. "Buried treasure marked with a _giant _X…"

"Oh, yeah … how many dead men just to bury it and keep the secret — _because they're all big-mouths_? Nothing dramatic about that at all."

"Okay, okay," Krissy said, crossing her arms and glaring at them both. "There's nothing _wrong _with a little drama."

"Nah, but we gotta keep you honest," Chance said, bumping Elin's shoulder with his. "Right?"

"It's a dirty job …" Elin agreed, bumping him back.

"Hey, that's why we do it. Nobody else will." Chance grinned brilliantly at her. "Pretty sure that's genetic — you and me."

"That's what they keep saying," she agreed. "So it must be true."

Sying leaned over to Krissy with a little smirk. "They're scary when they're working together."

"They're not scary; they're ridiculous," Krissy shot right back. "Don't _feed _it."

"If you say so," Sying said, shrugging lightly and going back to playing with the group, though it wasn't long before Jubilee came out with Ael so he could join in the swimming. He was already proficient at it, considering how often he begged his mother to take him out to the water.

"Hi, Sying!" Ael called out happily as he climbed down the ladder with Jubilee.

"Hi, Ael!" Sying called back, swimming over to his brother with a warm smile. "How was the slow way?" he teased.

"I always take the slow way."

"Yeah, I know. How was it?"

"Slow."

Sying grinned at that. "You can come play with us if you want," he said. "We're just swimming around and talking and stuff."

"Okay. I'm trying to swim to the bottom," Ael said. "Mom brought some rings to throw in the pool."

"Have you done it before?" Elin asked, waving his way.

Ael shook his head. "I can touch the bottom, but mostly, I just touch it and swim up again."

"You got your goggles?" Sying asked, and Ael nodded, waving the yellow goggles in one hand before Sying helped him to put them on and make sure that they were sitting just right.

It wasn't long before the cute little Kree boy was off on his little diving adventure, under Jubilee's careful supervision, with the older kids occasionally jumping in to help give him directions on where the rings were if he came up short — which ended up being more fun than they had realized.

"Your little brother is pretty cool," Krissy told Sying as she climbed out of the pool to sit next to him, both of their feet dangling in the water.

"Yeah, I think so too."

"You must think so, because you talk about him all the time, even when he's not here," Krissy pointed out.

"Well, I help him a lot. It was a lot of fun teaching him English," Sying said with a shrug. "Mom's teaching him Mandarin, too."

"He's smart, just like you," Krissy agreed.

Sying flushed with pleasure and nodded. "Yeah, he's … yeah."

"My little brothers are pretty smart, too," Krissy continued, completely oblivious to Sying's expression.

"Like you?" Sying said with a small smile.

Krissy grinned and drew herself up. "Yes, of course."

"Does Kade say more words now?"

"Oh yeah. He started speaking in sentences, and Papa was _strutting _for a week." She giggled. "He was so proud, he stopped being stern with me when I was grounded."

Sying looked taken aback. "You got grounded?"

She waved her hand. "Oh, yeah, that was earlier. I could go to lessons and stuff, but no movie nights and no Danger Room and it _sucked_."

"Why?" Sying asked.

She flushed purple. "It… it was a few weeks ago…"

"She skipped class," Chance said.

Sying looked totally gobsmacked. "Why would you do _that_?"

"It's…" Krissy turned deeper purple. "It was forever ago, and I'm not gonna do it again, so shut up, Chance!" she called out to the older boy, who grinned her way and waved them both off as he swam over to join Elin.

"I think they're trying to flirt," Elin said quietly to Chance. "At least one of them is."

"Yeah, but Sying's been trying to flirt with her since we were little," Chance pointed out. "And I don't think… you know. I don't think that works really well."

"I know. If she'd just _not _freak out, I'd think a kiss would work."

Chance raised both eyebrows. "You really think so?"

She looked over at him with a perfectly open expression. "Why not? If she didn't get so grumpy after..."

"Umm… if a girl is grumpy after you kiss her, then you did it wrong," Chance said, wrinkling his nose.

"Or she's a sourpuss."

"I dunno," Chance said, his head tipped to the side. "I still think you shouldn't kiss girls who get mad at you for kissing them. My mom would kill me if I did that."

"Probably," she agreed.

"It's alright. I think she knows he likes her, so at least there's that," Chance pointed out.

"I hope so," she said.

"I mean, he's _really _obvious about it," Chance continued.

"He is, but … Krissy …" She tipped her head their way. "...probably needs to be the one to hand out the cupcake."

"Girls are complicated."

"Not really," she argued.

"Yes, really," Chance insisted.

"Boys are more complicated," she argued further.

"Yeah?" Chance turned her way. "How? I mean, me and Sying are actually flirting with girls, so… maybe I'm missing something."

"Maybe you are," she said with a shrug. "He flirts with just Krissy … and you flirt with everyone. So … complicated."

"I already told you I just flirt with everyone because nobody flirts back," Chance said with a tiny frown.

"I know," she said, smiling at him before she swam closer to bump his shoulder. "I'm not picking on you."

"It's hard to tell sometimes," he said with a small smile.

"I figured you'd _know _when I was picking on you," Elin replied. "I would be very obvious about it."

Chance grinned at her. "Well, you're _usually _picking on people. That's how we know you like us."

"I suppose," she said, though her smile slipped

"It's alright; I don't mind it," Chance promised, still smiling.

"Well … I'm not mean about it, anyhow," she said quieter, sinking in the water until her chin was covered.

Chance shook his head quickly. "No, no. No, you're not bullying. That's _totally _different. You're _so _not mean. That's not what I meant."

"Still …."

"It's nice picking," Chance said. "You know, like when your mom picks on my dad when we go shooting. It makes him laugh sometimes."

"I like it when he laughs," Elin said. "He should do that more often."

"You should go shooting with us," Chance said. "We have a _blast_. It's so fun. And everybody gets to laugh, because you can't _not _have fun with explosions."

"Oh, for sure," Elin said, nodding. "But mom only likes to take one kid at a time out there. She says it cuts down on distractions."

Chance looked disappointed for a moment before he brightened up. "That's okay. We can still do other stuff in the summer. We should ride horses more. Your mom said she'd teach me how to shoot on horseback once I got the hang of it."

"That'll probably be a while," Elin warned. "She's not in a rush to show anyone handguns any time soon."

"Yeah, and I'm still learning," Chance said. "But that doesn't mean I can't practice horseback in the meantime, and that _is _something we can do together."

"I can show you a few tricks on horseback," Elin offered.

Chance broke into a huge grin. "Yes! Let's do it."

"I think they're trying to flirt," Krissy whispered to Sying, and Sying raised both eyebrows as he looked toward Elin and Chance.

"Still just 'trying'?" Sying asked.

"Yeah. You haven't seen them lately," Krissy whispered, shaking her head. "They're kind of… both… idiots."

Sying watched the two of them and let out a breath. "You'd think… I mean, they've been like that since we were little."

"They're best friends," Krissy said with a shrug. "They're just… very, very bad at flirting."

"Really?"

"Really. I've had to watch it." Krissy scrunched up her nose. "It's ridiculous."

"Should we… help them?" Sying asked.

But Krissy was already shaking her head. "No, Charlie's always saying that it makes it worse if you try to interfere, so… I think we just have to let them be stupid."

"Okay, but that sounds like a bad idea," Sying said dubiously.

Krissy just rolled her eyes at him. "It's not like they're getting _married _or anything. They're just being silly."

"Uh-huh." Sying shrugged.

Krissy pushed him in the shoulder as she got to her feet. "Race you to the kitchen," she said. "There's popcorn and movies inside." With that, she disappeared in a poof of purple, and Sying took off — though, of course, there was just no way he could outpace the 'port, and they both knew it.


	14. Dad-Pool

**Chapter 14: Dad-Pool**

The clash of swords was ringing through the Danger Room as Kate and Kurt sparred. The older their kids got, the more they were able to enjoy moments like this, and they were taking full advantage of every stolen time for dates.

Kate had just pulled off a spectacular twirl, which Kurt met with his blades, before he cheated and snaked his tail around her waist to pull her closer and steal a kiss. "You look wonderful, _liebchen_, especially with a sword in your hand."

"You're such a romantic pirate," Kate teased right back.

"You forgot 'dashing'."

"Yes, of course. My dashing, romantic pirate," Kate said, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him deeply."

"And my lovely, enchanting archer," Kurt replied, his tail wrapped around her tightly with one hand in her hair as the two of them got more and more involved.

They were just about to teleport away to find some privacy when a wolf whistle split the air and none other than Deadpool let himself in. "No, no, carry on," Wade said, waving his hand. "You two work on number five. I'm only here to tell you some of the _greatest news ever._"

Kurt shook his head without moving a step back from Kate. "Your timing is terrible."

"Yeah, I can see from here where you _stand_," Wade said. "But this is important!"

Kurt let out a long sigh, even as Kate started to laugh. "If this is not actually important…" he whispered to Kate.

"I'll take care of it," Kate promised before she finally turned in Kurt's arms to face Wade. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much, just _the cutest little boy who ever lived._"

"Okay, were you playing with Kade?" Kate guessed.

"Oh, Katie. Katie, Katie, Katie," Wade said, skipping toward her with every word until he had a hand on her shoulder. "No. I mean little bitty _Ryan Wilson._"

Kate froze — and then tackled Wade in a hug. "No way! When did this happen?"

"Last night!" Wade picked her up and spun her around.

"That's wonderful news," Kurt said, smiling widely as well.

"Right?" Wade grinned and picked Kurt up as well, spinning him like he'd done with Kate. "I was coming to find my brother and sister-in-law, but I found you two first, and I just _had _to share!"

"I'm glad you did," Kate said, grinning enthusiastically before she hugged Wade again. "Seriously, Wade. This is _so cool!_"

"It is, isn't it?"

Kate kissed his cheek. "You're totally glowing. I _need _to see this kid."

Immediately, Wade whipped out his cell phone, where of course he'd taken about a million pictures of the new little guy to show off. "Meet Ryan!"

"Oh my gosh. He's _gorgeous_," Kate gushed, absolutely falling apart over the toe-headed little boy.

"Good material, right?" Wade said, gushing just as much as Kate was and clearly preening over the whole thing.

"Yes, your wife is beautiful," Kurt said without missing a beat.

"You're totally right, but I feel like you're missing my tiny contribution too," Wade said. "Believe it or not, I used to be a total looker."

"You've said."

"I can sorta see you here, though," Kate said before Wade could draw himself up and get going. "You caught a gas smile, and that's totally you."

"_That's _what you're going with?" Wade asked, sounding both tickled and affronted, somehow at the same time. "I'll have you know those freckles are pure Wilson too!"

"They're _darling_."

"I _know_!"

The two of them gushed a little more before, finally, Wade straightened up and gave Kate one last hug. "Okay, but I have to go find someone short and stabby and someone shorter and stabbier and prettier to tell them the news. Lisbet left a message, but you know how those two can be about checking them if they're _occupied_."

"If they _are _occupied, you don't want to interrupt them," Kurt warned.

"Don't worry!" Wade said happily. "I know how to knock!"

Kurt looked like he was about to head after Wade to prevent a beheading, but Kate grabbed his arm. "He's excited. Let him be excited," she said, then pulled Kurt into a long kiss. "Besides, we have better things to do."

Kurt smiled outright and dipped her in a kiss. "You're right. Of course. How rude of me to get so distracted."

"You should fix that."

"Immediately," Kurt agreed, pulling Kate tightly to him.

* * *

As it turned out, Logan and K weren't "occupied," though they had been when Wade sent the texts. But now, K was having a different kind of fun, this time by messing with a very pregnant America Chavez.

America had been grousing and complaining ever since she got pregnant, and while most of the ladies could sympathize, K had decided to give America a little of her own medicine, considering how much the girl had been teasing and messing with everyone else for so long.

"I know, sweetheart," K said in her most condescendingly sympathetic tone as she sat down across from a miserable America. "Life's so rough right now, isn't it?"

"Shut up," America grumbled.

"I'm sure _no one _can understand your predicament, you _poor thing_."

America rolled her eyes and leaned back on the couch. She was honestly not feeling good, so she didn't have the energy to get up and shove K back a few steps to make her stop, and that was only fueling her misery. "Why are you like this?"

"Like what?" K asked innocently.

America gestured wordlessly to K.

K smiled and blinked, still keeping up the innocent act. "I'm just trying to help you when you're so _obviously _uncomfortable."

"Something tells me you're not actually helpful," America grumbled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," K said, and to prove her point, she handed America a mug of coffee, just the way she liked it. "Here. You seem a little testy today."

"You're hilarious," America said, though she took the coffee all the same. "Thanks."

"Just looking out for the poor pregnant woman," K teased, already headed out the door before America could give her flack in return.

America leaned back with the coffee and took a long sip before she leaned her head back. She had to keep reminding herself that she _had _agreed to this. And she did love Lucy. And she was actually, secretly, excited to meet the little one that kept kicking the crap out of her organs.

If for no other reason than that the kid was obviously strong, and America wanted to see what that looked like outside her stomach.

Besides, there were other good things about being pregnant when she wasn't sick and tired and also sick and tired of being sick and tired. Like baby hiccoughs. And baby kicks. And the fact that most people (except K) were giving her either a wide berth or doting attention (especially Lucy).

And then there was Kaleb, who had always liked America, doting on her all the time.

It was unbearably cute.

Sure enough, it took no time at all before a little pointy-eared boy peeked into where America was reclining, shyly scuffing his feet and asking, "You okay, America?"

"Yeah, I'm just not feeling all that good, munchkin."

"My name's _Kaleb_," he giggled. He wasn't really put out, of course. America always called him that. But that meant that he also _always _had to give her a hard time about it.

"Oh, is it?"

"America-a-a-a-a." Kaleb tipped his head back and let out a dramatic groan. "When are you gonna get my name right?"

"When I'm one hundred and can't remember any other name but yours, munchkin," America replied without missing a beat.

"That's _forever!_"

"Sure seems like it to you, I'm sure."

"Well, I'm little. Mom says that means everything's big."

"She's right. She'd know, seeing as she's short too."

"Nuh-uh!" Kaleb puffed out his chest. "Nuh-uh! Mama and Papa are _superheroes_."

"Oh, and you can't be short and be a superhero?" America teased. "That's good to know. You should tell Logan and K. Alert the presses."

Kaleb dramatically groaned again. "That's not what I _saaaaid_."

"Sure sounded like it!"

"Well, it's not!"

"Then say what you mean, pipsqueak." When Kaleb pulled another face, America laughed and pulled him over to ruffle his hair. "Aww, it's okay. You look just like your mom when you do that, you know?"

"Mama says I look just like Papa."

"No, I think you look just like her."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!" America rolled her eyes at him. "I thought you said your dad said I'm always right now that I'm the size of a planet?"

Kaleb scrunched up his nose (and looked even more like Kate). "You can't use that! That's not fair!"

"Used it and won the game, munchkin. Check and mate."

"Hey!"

America laughed and ruffled his hair again. "Sorry. Play again." When Kaleb stuck his tongue out at her, she tweaked his nose. "Hey, want to do a pregnant lady a favor?"

Kaleb perked up. "Okay."

"You know those chocolates your mom is hiding above the kitchen?"

Kaleb's smile turned more troublemaking. "Yeah?"

"Wanna finish 'em with me?"

Kaleb broke into a delighted laugh for an answer… and off he went, cackling the whole time about how much he loved his Aunt America.

America smirked as she watched him run off. Okay, so maybe she _could _do this whole motherhood thing.

* * *

**And that's all for this volume! Tune in to Canucklehead Cowgirl's profile to catch the next one, "What Did You Do This Summer?" shortly!**


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